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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26131606">Manual Restart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNerdyTurtle96/pseuds/TheNerdyTurtle96'>TheNerdyTurtle96</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A bunch of people made mistakes, Apologies, Characters will be added as they appear - Freeform, F/M, False is the main character, I'll just leave it there for now, Minor Swearing, Multi Chapter, No Smut, Not a lot of romance actually, There will be archive warnings later, There’s some violence in one chapter but not enough for the warning I think, Xisuma/nap is the best relationship tag, but I don't want to spoil things, prewritten, reflections</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:34:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>41,228</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26131606</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNerdyTurtle96/pseuds/TheNerdyTurtle96</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Something devastating happens to Wels and long story short, False is given a choice. She'll have to choose wisely, because the consequences are bigger and reach further than they seem.<br/>—————<br/>If any of the hermits are reading this, please do not read this on camera or post it on Twitter. Let me know if you are uncomfortable with any of this and I will revise it or take it down.<br/>—————<br/>NO REAL PERSON SHIPPING! MINECRAFT PERSONAS ONLY!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>FalseSymmetry/Welsknight, Xisuma/A nap</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Before We Begin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hello reader! I’m TheNerdyTurtle96 (although you can call me Claire) and I write Hermitcraft fanfiction. This is the first fanfiction that I ever wrote and I’m quite proud of it. I’m so happy that you decided to read this story of mine, but before you begin, I have some notes.</p><ul>
<li>First of all, this work may not be copied, reproduced, or republished anywhere without my express permission.</li>
<li>Second, if you provide comments/feedback, be respectful, kind, and considerate.</li>
<li>If you don’t like ships, I’m sorry. This story does have shipping, so if that’s not your thing, don’t read this. Also, if bullying people who write stories with shipping is your thing, then get the hell out of here and take some time away from the internet to evaluate your life choices.</li>
<li>Alrightsies, onto some fun notes! This story features most of the hermits on my watch list. The main characters are FalseSymmetry and Welsknight, who are both amazing content creators that you should definitely check out, as well all of the other hermits.</li>
<li>This is mostly PG, although there is minor swearing and violence in later chapters. I’ll give up a heads-up on which chapters those are when you get there.</li>
<li>Okay, we need to have another serious (and very long) talk. So… I shipped False in this story. I discovered that she didn’t want to be shipped when I was writing chapter 12. I thought about it a lot and I eventually decided that I definitely wanted to finish the story. I also decided that the reasoning for the characters doing what they are doing in the story (really trying to avoid spoilers!) isn’t as strong if I make False’s ship platonic. I did go back and take some more romantic stuff out after writing chapter 14. I also had a moment where I wrote the ending and I was like “Yes! I’m done!” and then I woke up the next morning and decided that I had to completely rewrite the last two chapters so that I could sleep at night. Then I finished this version of the story and I was very nervous about publishing it. I was really confident after reading some other stories that shipped False and didn’t get hated on, but then I read another person’s rant about respecting the hermits’ boundaries and I felt awful again. So I ended up being stuck for a while. I really love this story and I’ve poured a lot of my heart and soul into it and I want other people to be able to read it and enjoy it. However, I was really scared that even just one person would come by, read this story, and start yelling at me for shipping False. Eventually, I came up with a compromise, where I’d send the PDF to anyone who privately messaged me about it on Wattpad. </li>
<li>
<em>Then</em>, I read this very nice chapter by @0the0bees0knees0 in their book “A Hermitcraft Mess” about the hermits and their opinions on shipping. I would highly suggest reading it (warning: there is quite a bit of swearing in the post, <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/942227006-a-hermitcraft-mess-another-pogger-lads">https://www.wattpad.com/942227006-a-hermitcraft-mess-another-pogger-lads</a>), but if you can’t access it for some reason, here’s the gist. Many of the hermits are totally okay with shipping, Cleo is very active on Tumblr defending shippers from harassment by antis, and Doc has said that no one is uncomfortable with it. Yes, I know that False and Xisuma have apparently at some point in the past stated that they’re uncomfortable with being shipped. However, I can’t find a source for it, it was many years ago, and this story (or any of my stories, for that matter) doesn’t ship the real people. ONLY THE MINECRAFT PERSONAS ARE BEING SHIPPED! Now, if you don’t want to read this story because of the ships, then that’s perfectly fine. That’s your own personal choice. However, please do not harass me or yell at me for <em>my </em>own personal choice.</li>
<li>If any of the hermits are reading this, first of all, hello! This is kind of cool! Second, please don’t read this on camera or share this on Twitter or anything. Third, let me know if you are uncomfortable with anything that I’ve written. I will happily revise it or take it down.</li>
<li>This story is dedicated to my younger brother, who is completely obsessed with Hermitcraft. He listened to me read out loud every chapter pretty much as soon as I finished it. Thanks for everything!</li>
<li>This will also get posted on Wattpad and I will upload on Mondays and Fridays. There are 20 chapters and it is all prewritten, so I should (key word being should) be able to publish twice a week. I will also continue to post a oneshot on Wednesdays. Let's get going with the story!</li>
</ul>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 1 (False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Quick note: The parentheses in the title indicate whose third person perspective the chapter is in.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>False was in the zone and completely focused on her build. She had been working on this section of her base for nearly three hours and she quietly hummed to herself as she moved along. Triumphantly setting one last block in place at the end of the row, she pulled out some rockets and took off out over the ocean to see the structure from a distance. Up in the air, she contently grinned; it was perfect and she was excited to work on the next part. Suddenly, her communicator buzzed and she carefully pulled it out from her jacket pocket to read the incoming message.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>[Docm77] </b>False, can we talk at your base privately?</p>
<p><b>[falsesymmetry] </b>ok meet at clock tower?</p>
<p><b>[Docm77] </b>I'll be there soon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hesitantly, she flew out further and soon landed at her clock tower, slightly nervous about what Doc might have to say. At least Scar wasn't coming, she thought, or that would probably mean a meeting about Falsewell. False didn't really want to face the intimidating leaders of Area 77 alone. However, there could be another reason that Doc wanted to talk and False had a sneaking suspicion of what it was.</p>
<p>After a few minutes of pacing on her part, Doc gently landed across from False.</p>
<p>"Hello, Falsie."</p>
<p>"Hey, Doc. It's surprising to see you without your best buddy nowadays!"</p>
<p>"Scar's busy right now."</p>
<p>"Is this about Falsewell? Because if it is, then-"</p>
<p>"No..."</p>
<p>"Don't be pulling my leg here, Doc!"</p>
<p>Doc took a deep breath and scanned the floor before bringing his terrifying eyes up to meet False's.</p>
<p>"It's about Wels."</p>
<p>False froze in terror; she hadn't quite been ready for that. Sure, you could call Wels her boyfriend. False hated that word, though. The way it looked and sounded felt gross to her and Wels felt the same about the word "girlfriend". Instead, they preferred to call each other lady and knight. It didn't even feel like they were dating sometimes. False wanted to keep it secret and Wels respected that, so around other hermits, they acted like friends. Even alone, though, they just felt like good friends with an extra desire to be around the other. They trusted each other completely and loved doing things together.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, they hadn't been quite careful enough. Back during the civil war, Doc had accidentally found her and Wels sitting together one night. She'd had an embarrassing breakdown and begged Doc not to tell anyone. To her surprise, he had kept silent about it. He hadn't even dropped any hints to other hermits in his passive-aggressive way. False had been worried for a while, though, that he would accidentally slip up and she wondered if maybe that day had finally come.</p>
<p>"W-what about him?"</p>
<p>"Relax, I haven't told anyone."</p>
<p>False was still tense but she felt her fists loosen just a bit. Doc cheekily grinned.</p>
<p>"Although, I do think that you and him are kinda cute together..."</p>
<p>"I've already told you... just, what do you have to say?"</p>
<p>"I think we need to go to Hermitville for me to be able to explain."</p>
<p>"Then why didn't we meet out there?"</p>
<p>"I don't know! Just follow me!"</p>
<p>False sighed.</p>
<p>"This better be important."</p>
<p>Doc said nothing in response and the two hermits flew off to the nearest Nether portal and navigated the hub to Hermitville. False's mind was racing with a million thoughts, few of them good. She still followed as Doc led her to Wels' house and quietly up the stairs and through the corridors. When they entered the bedroom, she could see Wels in his bed, peacefully sleeping. She stared in silence for a few moments before slapping Doc on the arm.</p>
<p>"Hey! Ow! What was that for?"</p>
<p>"Really? I have better things to do today than flying around after you and watching Wels sleep."</p>
<p>"False, think about it. It's the middle of the day."</p>
<p>"Yes, it's the middle of a day that your childish prank has ruined."</p>
<p>False shook her head and turned to go down the stairs. Doc caught her arm and turned her to face him before she could leave, though.</p>
<p>"He's sleeping <em>in the middle of the day</em>."</p>
<p>False turned her head to gaze upon the bed. Her brain suddenly seemed to give out on her.</p>
<p>"What's that supposed to mean?"</p>
<p>Doc looked at the floor awkwardly, unable to meet False's questioning gaze.</p>
<p>"Last night, I was up doing some stuff and I never saw a message that Wels went to sleep. I thought it was a bit odd, knowing him, and long story short, I've been watching him for several hours and he hasn't even moved from the bed at all."</p>
<p>"He's sleeping, right?"</p>
<p>"Um..."</p>
<p>Tears started welling up in False's eyes as panic and fear flooded her whole body.</p>
<p>"Doc, please, what's happening?"</p>
<p>"Do you really want to know the truth?"</p>
<p>Part of False wanted to blindly believe that everything was fine and Doc was just joking. She had to know, though.</p>
<p>"Yes. I can handle it." Doc let out a breath he'd been holding.</p>
<p>"He's in a weird sort of coma. I've tried many times to wake him up, but..."</p>
<p>"But what?"</p>
<p>"It's, it's not working. I'm sorry."</p>
<p>An intense flood of emotions overwhelmed False and she sank to the floor in a heap, sobbing. Her heart felt as if it had been ripped apart and thrown into the Void. Wels wasn't physically dead, but he still felt hopelessly gone by the way Doc had phrased it. Out of her grief-filled haze, she could feel Doc hesitantly putting a hand on her shoulder.</p>
<p>False didn't know how long she laid there for, crying an ocean of tears and curled up in a ball, trying to protect herself from anything else that might hurt her.</p>
<p>"False? I'm really sorry. Look, I'm going to go get Xisuma and maybe he can help. Will you be okay alone?"</p>
<p>Choking back more sobs, False simply said, "No, please stay." She was scared to be by herself and as impersonal and gruff as Doc could be, he was someone.</p>
<p>"Alright. I'll ask him to come here."</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>[Docm77]</b> X, you awake?</p>
<p><b>[xisumavoid] </b>yeah</p>
<p><b>[Docm77]</b> Can you come to Wels' house in Hermitville? Fast please</p>
<p><b>[xisumavoid] </b>what's going on</p>
<p><b>[Docm77] </b>I'll explain once you get here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The sound of firework rockets soon appeared outside of the house. The door creaked as someone cautiously opened it and quick footsteps broke up the steady pattern of False's sobs. Even though she couldn't see the admin, False heard his gasp.</p>
<p>"Oh my goodness me. What happened?"</p>
<p>Doc simply gestured towards the bed where Wels lied motionless.</p>
<p>"Is he-"</p>
<p>"Shh. I think so, but we don't need to upset her further. Can you talk to her? I'm scared to leave her here alone in this state."</p>
<p>Xisuma quietly kneeled down in front of False, who buried her face into her jacket.</p>
<p>"False? Hello? I'm sorry."</p>
<p>False knew he was trying but she just wanted to be alone. No, she wanted to be with Wels. She wanted his happy voice and warm embrace and his reassurance that everything was okay. Xisuma turned back to Doc and lowered his voice.</p>
<p>"Do you know why she's taking this so hard?"</p>
<p>"False and Wels were a bit sweet on each other."</p>
<p>At the mention of his name, False broke out into another wave of paralyzing weeping.</p>
<p>"I'm really sorry, False."</p>
<p>Xisuma gently rubbed her back for a few minutes as Doc awkwardly looked on.</p>
<p>"X, we might need to get her out of here if we're going to try anything else."</p>
<p>He frowned for a moment before nodding in agreement.</p>
<p>"False, I'm really sorry, but it will be better if you leave here for a while."</p>
<p>"No, please don't make me go!"</p>
<p>"It's really better if you leave for this."</p>
<p>"I can't go!"</p>
<p>Xisuma lightly sighed before pulling out his communicator.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>[xisumavoid] </b>Stress, iskall, please come to hermitville. Wels's house</p>
<p><b>[GoodTimesWithScar]</b> Party over there I'm missing?</p>
<p><b>[Docm77] </b>No we'll explain later</p>
<p><b>[Stressmonster101] </b>omw, love</p>
<p><b>[Iskall85] </b>same here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xisuma met Iskall and Stress outside the bedroom door and even though they were whispering, False could just make out their conversation.</p>
<p>"It's a lot to explain, but False is in no condition to go home by herself and I can't get her to go with me. You two might just have to drag her with you."</p>
<p>"Aye, aye, captain!"</p>
<p>"Please be quiet, too."</p>
<p>Stress sneaked into the room and gasped.</p>
<p>"Oh my- what's going on?"</p>
<p>Doc glared at Stress from where he had finished setting up a curtain that hid Wels from view.</p>
<p>"She'd prefer that you know as little as possible."</p>
<p>"Fair enough."</p>
<p>False could see two more figures, Stress and Iskall, gathered around her and she turned to hide from them.</p>
<p>"False, dear. Please come with us. We'll take you home, okay love?"</p>
<p>"I don't want to go home," False quietly sniffed.</p>
<p>"False, please. I don't know why you have to go or why you're like this, but it must be important."</p>
<p>"I said, I don't want to go home." Her voice was a little stronger and more resolved.</p>
<p>"You need to."</p>
<p>"LISTEN TO ME!!! I DON'T WANT TO GO HOME!!!" False screamed so loud that the whole house shook. She punched the air behind her in frustration and her hand connected with a delicate glass sculpture, which promptly shattered. The pieces fell on her with surprising force and small trickles of blood began to form all over her exposed skin where the glass was embedded.</p>
<p>"That settles it. You're coming with us."</p>
<p>Stress pulled a blanket from her inventory and gently slid it under False while Iskall held her still. Together, they struggled to tie False to the blanket as she kept trying to escape their grasp. They managed to get her strapped down and carried out the door before flying off together towards Stress's castle. False wept the whole time and heavily resisted. The straps held tight, though, and soon the three arrived at the gates. Carefully, Stress and Iskall carried False to a spare bedroom and laid her in between the sheets.</p>
<p>Iskall ran off to grab some potions while Stress gently picked glass shards out of False, applied bandages, and cleaned up the blood that False was dripping. Once the visible wounds had been taken care of, Stress helped False change into a soft, clean nightgown so that her blood-soaked and tear-stained clothes could be washed. False was so exhausted from crying that she had no energy to resist when Iskall gave her several potions. The pillows were so fluffy and the mattress so soft that she was tempted to fall asleep.</p>
<p>Thoughts of Wels still plagued her and she laid in the bed with her eyes closed for a long time. False could feel her weakness and several times thought about trying to find the potion room herself. Stress and Iskall sat on either side of the bed, though, preventing False from doing anything but resting. Sleep evaded her, unfortunately, and she softly cried through a long and tense night, feeling bitterly alone.</p>
<p>"Why hadn't I come with him just to make sure he was okay? Why didn't I notice sooner that something was wrong? I never would have known if Doc hadn't found me. I'm a terrible person. How could I have been so stupid?"</p>
<p>Stress heard False's muttering and squeezed her hand. The doorbell rang and Iskall got up to answer it. From the open window next to her, False could hear everything.</p>
<p>"Oh, hello Doc. Do you want to come in?"</p>
<p>"No, I just, I have some news."</p>
<p>"Not good?"</p>
<p>"Long story short, we tried some stuff and nothing worked."</p>
<p>"Not even-"</p>
<p>"No, we tried that."</p>
<p>"False wouldn't have been able to handle seeing that."</p>
<p>"I know. Hey man, uh, thanks for taking care of her. I didn't really know what to do back there. I mean, I know redstone, man, but consoling people in her state? That's a bit out of my league." <br/>"It's no problem. Thanks for the update."</p>
<p>There was a long pause and False briefly thought the conversation was over.</p>
<p>"What are you going to do now?"</p>
<p>"Well, X is working through his admin tools, trying to find something. I've gotta make sure that he doesn't kill himself with all the stress."</p>
<p>"When are you going to tell everyone else?"</p>
<p>"We'll have to see about that."</p>
<p>"Anything else you need us to do?"</p>
<p>"Just keep False alive."</p>
<p>"What do we tell her?"</p>
<p>"Nothing for now. I'm no therapist, but I don't think there's anything helpful that we could say to her."</p>
<p>"Alright. See ya."</p>
<p>"Goodbye."</p>
<p>The sound of rockets faded and Iskall reappeared, unaware that False had heard everything.</p>
<p>"That was Doc. They're still working on some stuff."</p>
<p>False shifted uncomfortably in the bed. The thought that Wels, her beautiful knight in shining armor, might never come back was too much to bear and she started to cry again. Stress wrapped her in a hug.</p>
<p>"Oh, love. Don't worry. Everything will be okay."</p>
<p>Somehow False knew that it would not.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Woo, I wrote that two months ago and it's obviously not up to my usual standards, if you've read my oneshots. It gets better over the course of the book, though, and I'll go back at some point and do some editing. Let me know what y'all think so far in the comments and I'll publish chapter 2 on Friday! Have a great day!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 2 (False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>False is given some news and has to deal with it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Man, this chapter was tough to write because my heart just hurt. I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done to you, False. WARNING: Very mild swearing.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“And I’ve lost so many diamonds to that stupid RUN game! Ugh, Iskall must be really rich because of that. Currently, Iskall’s kind of obsessed with some sort of concrete maker on his islands. Oh, and he’s auctioning off his death. I thought about putting in a bid, but I’ve already given him enough of my money.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>False sighed as she rubbed Wels’s hand with her own. The soothing feel of his skin kept her calm as she looked out the window. Every day since Stress had released False from her castle, False had come to this house and sat with Wels for some time. She told him about everything happening on the server, even though she was pretty sure that he couldn’t hear her. It was more for her benefit and an odd sort of therapy. For 4 months he had laid in that bed unmoving and every time False left the house, she worried that he would finally wake up and she wouldn’t be there to greet him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I really miss you. I wish you would have been around for all of this fun stuff. You’ll come back soon, though, and we’ll get to enjoy things together again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sat in silence for a few moments before leaning over to kiss his forehead, like she always did every time before she left.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Goodbye for now, my knight. I’ll be back tomorrow.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As False slowly turned to get up and leave, she froze. Doc was sitting in the corner of the room, silently staring at False.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“W-what the hell are you doing here?” She stammered out of fear and confusion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We need to talk.”</span>
</p>
<p><span>“There’s much better ways of initiating a conversation than this.”</span><span><br/></span> <span>“I know, but I also knew that I would find you here eventually.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you going to apologize for being creepy?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine! I’m sorry! Can we just talk? I need to get this out of the way.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>False took a deep breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, continue.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know if you’ve heard the rumors, but-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Season Seven?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I figured you might have.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But this season is so great!”</span>
</p>
<p><span>“False, you know it’s winding down and we’ll be wrapping up soon. That’s what Xisuma said.”</span> <span><br/></span> <span>“How soon?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh, about three weeks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s quite soon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anyway, we’ve been talking and we can use my Infinity portal to get there. All of us remaining Hermits.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure that it won’t kill us all or drop more people out of the sky?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s safe. And, you know, I don’t really want to end this season either, but everyone else really wants the reset and Xisuma says that it’s happening.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, no. See, I’ve been doing some testing to prove to Xisuma that the portal is safe and we’ve run into a slight issue.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A </span>
  <em>
    <span>slight</span>
  </em>
  <span> issue.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Actually, to you, it’s probably a very big one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A horrid sensation started to spread through False as her mind took Doc’s nuances to their natural conclusions.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, you don’t mean- surely, you can’t be saying-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not going to be safe to take Wels.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The same panic that False had experienced when she first learned Wels was asleep swept over her now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can’t leave him behind!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Horrible things could happen if he isn’t awake.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe we could wait for him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Doc shifted his scary gaze to the floorboards. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, Xisuma and I already discussed that. It might be a very long time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can I stay behind?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“False, I hate to say this, but at some point, you’re gonna have to move on. If he wakes up after we leave, maybe he’ll find his way home. But he’ll be okay, nevertheless. You, on the other hand, need a distraction and maybe some distance will help. You’ve been grieving so long that you’ve barely been able to do or enjoy anything else. Please. This is for your own good.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>False knew he was right, but she hadn’t wanted to hear it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What if-what if-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Doc suddenly hardened his voice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Listen to me. Wels will be okay. You need to move on, so you’ll be coming with us to Season Seven. If you want to talk some more, go find Xisuma or someone else. I can’t do this talky-feely stuff. Plus, I need to work on my raid farm. Goodbye.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>False watched as Doc quickly walked out of the house and flew up and away to his massive storm cloud in the sky. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled onto the blanket covering Wels. She buried her face in it and started to cry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>----------</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next day, False hesitantly left the house and flew out to Xisuma’s base. She couldn’t find him there, so she took off again towards his pet project: IDEA. A bit of wandering around found him busily restocking the shelves. She paused for a few moments, debating what to say, before Xisuma turned around, a bit startled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aah! Oh, hello False. Sorry, didn’t see you there. Do you need something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, actually. I kind of wanted to talk.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Here, there’s some chairs upstairs.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xisuma led False up a staircase to a fancy boardroom with unfinished walls showing off the messy interior of the massive concrete prism. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry. I haven’t quite finished this room yet. It’s the next project on my list. Anyway, what’s up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, well, Doc talked to me yesterday. And he said that Season Seven is coming soon. Is that true?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep! That’s why I’ve been working so hard over here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why a new season?” False nodded. “Well, several hermits have already finished their time in this season and we have some other people waiting for us to join them in our new world.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay. Well, he also said that we’re using the Infinity portal to get there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about that. We’ve thoroughly tested it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And he told me,” False felt the back of her throat tighten and her voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “He told me that Wels couldn’t go with us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tears fell lightly onto the chair as False sniffled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And he said that I had to move on and I couldn’t stay behind or anything and I’m just, I don’t know. I’m mad at him but I know that he’s right but I don’t want him to be and I just want Wels to be with me again. I mean, he’s physically with us now, but if we go through that portal, I’ll lose him forever...” The words fell as fast and freely as her tears before she finally broke into large sobs at the end. Xisuma pulled False into a gentle hug and her tears rolled off the admin’s armor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry. I know that you don’t want to leave him, but it would be more dangerous to try to bring him with you. I’m certain he’ll find you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How long will it take?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know. But I know you’ll be strong enough until you find him again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>False looked up to Xisuma’s face, obscured by the green helmet, with desperation in her eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is there any other way?” She whispered, already knowing the answer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” was all Xisuma said before False suddenly collapsed in his arms.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>----------</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sitting at Wels’ bedside once again, False willed everything in her for him to wake up and come to life again. She concentrated hard until the tension in her was so painful she could no longer bear it. Exhausted, she opened her eyes and was disappointed to find Wels still motionless.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“False, let’s go! Everyone’s waiting for you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>False sighed with an unbearably heavy heart and kissed Wels one last time,</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Goodbye for now, my knight. I’ll see you...soon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She got up from the chair and before she exited the room, she whispered, “Please, come back.” Nothing happened and she stepped outside to join Stress.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on! I’m so excited!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stress was unbelievably energetic and she practically floated on air trying to keep False from dragging too far behind. Finally, they arrived at the portal. Some kind of speech was given and then the hermits started filing through the portal. False was second to last in line, just in front of Doc, and she looked longingly at Wels’s house, contemplating making a run for it and staying behind. Doc knew what she was thinking, though.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“False, it’s time to move on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She took a deep breath before stepping inside the portal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” were her last words before being sent somewhere, the images of the previous world rapidly fading in her mind to a complete black.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 3 (False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A dream and a memory.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I rewrote this chapter a lot and it’s quite short, but every chapter is important and serves a purpose. This one is actually quite pivotal to later events. I’ll shut up before I really spoil something.<br/>Also, updates now will be on Tuesday and Friday. I can’t reliably publish stuff on Mondays, so I’m just going to abandon that idea now.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>False found herself once again building a tower, steadily placing the blocks and humming a familiar tune. She placed the last few blocks in the row and was about to fly out to check on her progress when she felt a small wave of emotion. It happened randomly throughout her day ever since the group had started Season Seven. She was trying to distance herself from the ugly memories of the previous world by changing her build style and physically staying away from other hermits. The emotions still came back frequently, though.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Taking a deep breath, False activated her elytra and flew back a distance before turning around. A wide smile broke across her face; the project was coming along quite nicely. In the background, False noted that the sun was rapidly setting. She set off a few more rockets and piloted a smooth landing onto her base’s glass floor.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>She walked over to her bed and happily slid inside the covers. Working through the night too many times had set a bunch of phantoms on her tail and she was glad to get rid of them. False didn’t think many other people would bother to sleep and the only other hermit that made it a habit to regularly sleep was, well, Wels.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>All the memories rushing back suddenly reminded her the other reason why she really didn’t sleep often. Sleeping every night was a big habit of Wels’ and False had joked about it so many times. After she was forced to leave him behind in Season 6, she’d never had an easy night of sleep. She tossed and turned nearly the whole night in a half-awake state. </span>
</p><p><span>As usual, the same memories rehashed themselves when False closed her eyes. Joking and laughing with Wels, her breakdown in front of Doc, and finding him asleep played one after another, slowly tearing at her heart. The next one on the reel was the day Xisuma and Doc confronted her at her base.</span><br/>
—————<br/>
</p><p>
  
  <span>She was doing something at her base, although False couldn’t remember exactly what anymore. She turned around at some point to see Xisuma and Doc silently standing behind her. She was terrified and more than a bit startled to see them there.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Falsie, please sit,” the cyborg’s voice emotionlessly ordered.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Jeez, did you have to scare me like that?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Doc said that you would be here and we figured that we needed to talk as soon as possible.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>In an instant, False realized what Xisuma was talking about.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You’d better explain everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I promise, we will.” Xisuma sounded like he was trying to be reassuring, but he just sounded tired.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Let’s just cut it to the chase, False. We’ve been working on Wels for quite some time. We’ve tried every trick we have and nothing’s worked.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You’ve already told me that, Doc. Did you figure out the cause of it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The tired admin scratched his head.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes. It took some time, but we narrowed it down to semi-forced dormancy.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False stared at Xisuma blankly. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s not too common, but sometimes a player that’s pushed themselves too hard for too long will sort of crash.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>False could see Doc quietly mouthing, “Miracle this guy isn’t a victim yet,” and she struggled to keep her face straight before returning her attention to Xisuma.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’ll be alive, but dormant. Like a volcano.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do they ever become un-dormant? How do you fix it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been talking to other server admins and there’s not really a lot of options. Occasionally, they’ll restart on their own after a long time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How long is a long time?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Some had cases of a month. For others, it was years. There’s no way to tell.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False swallowed hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are there any other options?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, and you can choose which one you want. We can do a manual restart of the player’s user file, which usually works. However, Wels has such a large user file that we can’t restart the whole thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“First question: what does that mean? Second, why are you letting me decide?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re letting you choose because as much as us hermits care about Wels, you probably care the most out of all of us. As for the user file, em, well…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’d have to delete significant parts of his user code to make the file size cut,” Doc interrupted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How much?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Our options are all of his memories about Hermitcraft besides Xisuma, who for some reason makes the cut, or just about every other experience he’s ever had in every other world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s it?!?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I never said that you would like them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can we pick and choose parts of each?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unfortunately, that’s not really how it works.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I can just wait, maybe forever, or delete half of his memories?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pretty much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In that moment, she looked around and saw two faces. One was filled with weariness, stress, and exhaustion poorly masked by a green helmet. The other was a terrifying gaze from two non-human eyes, seeming to have no compassion. Her anger had to spill on someone and to her, the choice was obvious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Turning to Doc, False screamed, “I hate you! I’ll wait forever before taking a single memory! How dare you suggest that I would willingly harm him like that? I hate you!” Tears streaming down her face in an undignified manner, she flew up into the sky higher and higher. When she ran out of rockets, she glided using her wings until she crashed, hungry, tired, and completely lost.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  <span>The next memories were Doc and Xisuma telling her that Wels would have to stay behind and her blacking out at IDEA. Finally, she heard a steady loop of Doc saying, “False, it’s time to move on,” as she saw Wels for the final time before having to go through the portal. The final repetition echoed through her as she was sucked away…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As always, False woke up in the early morning screaming and shaking in a cold sweat.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Formatting, especially on my phone, sucks. However, I can confidently say that Wattpad is worse.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 4 (Tango/False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Two more characters are thrown into the mix.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yay! I get to introduce more hermits! Woo! I absolutely love writing hermit interactions. I’m actually not being sarcastic (for once).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tango wasn’t asleep, but he practically woke up when he heard the scream. It sent shivers through his whole body as he waited for it to eventually subside. He heard it less often than at the beginning of the season, but it wasn’t something you really got used to. His ears perked up again at the sound of rockets and he scanned the horizon to see Impulse zooming around his mess of towers and other things.</p><p>
  
  <span>“Tango! Where are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Over here! The storage room!” Tango shouted back.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>There was a loud crash as Impulse unsteadily landed on the floor behind Tango.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Did you hear that scream?” Impulse sounded breathless and panicked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah. How could you not?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Who do you think it’s from? Are they in distress? Wait, of course they are. What’s going on?” Tango suddenly realized that by sheer coincidence, this must have been the first time that Impulse had heard the scream.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, you’ve never heard it before?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No. Have you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Here, just sit.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Do we need to go help someone?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, I mean, you can, but you don’t have to.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’s that supposed to mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Just listen and then if you want, we can go over there.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Impulse skeptically sat on a chest as Tango alternated between sitting on a bed and pacing.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“The scream comes from False. It’s taken me a while to figure out exactly why it happens, but every time she goes to sleep, she wakes up screaming. That’s why I much prefer Bdubs to be around instead to sleep.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Or if Wels ever came back,” Impulse said innocently.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, Wels is actually-” Tango quickly stopped himself. “Can you keep a secret?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Impulse nodded as Tango sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m not really sure if I’m supposed to tell anyone this, but last season, Wels told me that he was dating False.” Impulse visibly struggled to keep his face straight. “He said that she wanted to keep it quiet, though, and not to tell anyone. They were great pals for the season, and you remember when Wels fell asleep?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah. Didn’t Doc ask us to come over once and help with some command stuff?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He did. He was also the one who broke the news both that Wels was asleep and the solution to fix it to False.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yikes. Why him?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wels said that Doc accidentally figured out their relationship during the civil war and Doc must have felt that False wouldn’t have trusted anyone else. I think he also had to tell Xisuma at some point and the poor guy was so stressed out that Doc probably just delivered it to her straight.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What was the solution?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“They had three options: Wait to see if he’d just come back, delete all of his memories of Hermitcraft minus Xisuma for some reason, or delete pretty much all of his other memories.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Eek. What’d she choose?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“According to Doc, she screamed that she hated him and would never take Wels’s memory away, flew off, and would have nearly died in a mob-infested desert at night except for Mumbo randomly stumbling upon her.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wait, so </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mumbo</span>
  </em>
  <span> saved </span>
  <em>
    <span>False</span>
  </em>
  <span> from dying to a bunch of mobs?” Impulse was now struggling not to laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I didn’t really understand that part, either. Anyway, then False visited Wels every day for three months before Doc told her that we couldn’t take Wels with us to Season Seven. She was quite upset about that and took going through the portal hard. She’s been trying to hide it, I can tell, but I think she can’t at night and some of those bad memories resurface in her dreams. I’m not really sure what’s going on, but that’s my theory.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The two redstoners sat in silence for a while watching the sun rise, which cast an eerie glow on the room.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Do you still want to visit False?” Tango said finally.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Maybe, I guess I just want to make sure that she’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright then.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Impulse and Tango leaped out of the window, activated their wings, and flew off towards False’s base.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  
  <span>False was still lying in her bed, sheets thrown off of her, curled in the warm, fuzzy blanket. The torches calmed her fear of mobs attacking her in this vulnerable state, as well as the steadily rising sun. False couldn’t really see it, but after a few minutes, she did see two shadows come splashing through the water curtain and she heard them crash into the glass floor, one right after the other.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Still trembling, False didn’t feel like moving to see who it was. She had no clue who it could be and she honestly didn’t care.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Where’s False?” The overwhelmingly joyful voice now laced with concern belonged to Impulse.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Over there!” False assumed that was Tango.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>She heard their cautious footsteps towards her until one was on each side of the bed. They were a fair distance back, but she still felt trapped.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“False? Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why do you care?” False mumbled into her pillow, but she could tell they heard her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We heard you scream.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you?” Honestly, False wasn’t and she could tell that Impulse wouldn’t be giving up, just as Tango hadn’t a few weeks before. Rolling her eyes as she sat up in her bed, False ran her fingers through the frizzy ends of her hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, maybe not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can we help?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re already gone. They always come back. You can’t make them go away.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are ‘they’?” Impulse still sounded a bit unsure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you really that clueless?” She snapped before suddenly remembering that Impulse didn’t know anything about the memories: only she did. False took a deep breath and tried again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry. I forget that no one else knows what goes on inside my head. ‘They’ are my nightmares. They start as lovely memories and quickly spiral downwards into misery. Hence, the scream. I’m sorry if it’s too loud or something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is a bit chilling,” Tango admitted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d never heard it before,” Impulse added. “I didn’t know if someone was hurt or trapped.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope. Just old haunted me. I don’t suppose you or anyone else cares to know why.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I already told him what I thought. Wels said some stuff to me a while back,” Tango quietly said while looking down at the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. You know, I figured that Wels and probably Doc had told you at some point. I wasn’t sure about Impulse, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False sighed and looked off into the distance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The worst memory is when I’m presented with my options. It was a childish way to handle it, but I was very emotional. I think often about it. Without his other memories, Wels wouldn’t be Wels, but selfishly, I don’t want him to forget about me, or anyone.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Impulse and Tango looked at each other, silently debating whether to stay and continue to listen to her talk. They both noticed the tears beginning to well up in her eyes and fall one by one onto the bedding as False pulled her knees to her chest.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“More than anything, I just want Wels back. Xisuma said I’d be strong enough to wait for him, but what if he’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No one spoke, leaving the scary thought echoing around the giant room. The three were frozen for a long time before False eventually broke the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can leave me now. I’ll be fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hesitantly, both Tango and Impulse flew out of False’s base in dead silence as False continued to stare off into space with tears rolling down her face.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 5 (???/False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Things are starting to happen...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The room was completely dark except for the green glow given off by the monitors. The man inside didn’t want or need any more lights on. Quickly, he typed commands into the terminal, trying to remain quiet and not set off any alarms. He didn’t exactly have Xisuma’s permission to do this and facing the admin about this particular issue would be… difficult. It was better to do it this way.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The man navigated to Welsknight’s file and opened it up. What initially caught his eye was the word “DORMANT” written in bright gold text under the username. He quickly diverted his attention to finding the correct buttons and after a few clicks, he was inside the file. Lines of complex code sat in neat rows on the huge screens and the man swiftly picked out the sections he was looking for.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>His finger hovering over the “DELETE” key, the man paused. This would be permanent and dramatic... and he knew that he had to do it. False would never agree to it, but the man couldn’t bear to see her slowly collapsing under the weight of missing Wels any longer. This was the only way he could save her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’ll just be like ripping off a bandage. Quick and mostly painless.” The man tried to reassure himself that what he was doing was right before finally hitting the key. A few more clicks took him to an ominous button. “MANUAL RESTART” it spelled in angry red letters. The man clicked the button once and a prompt appeared.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <b>[Are you sure that you want to manually restart the user file “WELSKNIGHT”?]</b>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The man moved the cursor to the “YES” button, closed his eyes, and clicked. Although nothing really happened besides the display slightly changing, the man could feel the weight of his decision. He glanced at the screens one more time to make sure that everything was okay before sneaking out of the compound and flying away. The man found himself questioning the decision, but he knew that there was no going back now. He just hoped that False could forgive him.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  
  <span>“Gah! It looks terrible!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False scrunched her face in frustration as she looked over the flawed build. She had thought that she had caught most of the mistakes, but they were still obvious in almost the entire structure. She had been off her game for the whole day for some reason. False hadn’t bothered sleeping the previous night, instead opting to read some books. She knew that she should have probably rested, but she didn’t want to freak anyone else out with her screaming. Impulse had looked terrified when he and Tango had dropped by a few days ago and she had felt like a monster. She was terribly distracted today, though, probably from the lack of rest.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Taking a deep breath, False decided to leave the project alone for the day and go visit Stress. It was quite a ways out to the other hermit’s base, but she felt like flying for some reason. Leaping into the air, her wings activated and rockets took her high into the clear blue sky. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Looking down at the shopping district, False could see all the brightly colored buildings breaking up the sad texture of the native mycelium. The area was quite a mess, but it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>their</span>
  </em>
  <span> mess and she felt quite proud of it. Of course, if she were mayor, the district could be neat and organized, but her campaign was a task for another day. False shook her head to clear her daydreams and shrieked a bit as she narrowly avoided smashing into the glass platform above Etho’s shop.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Zooming over a crystal clear ocean, False soon arrived in the jungle. The area didn’t officially have a name but she thought that it definitely should after seeing all of the amazing, massive builds inside of it. “Maybe the Omega Jungle?” she wondered. “Omega” was a word that Iskall had been tossing around a lot. False gently landed on one of the branches of Iskall’s tree, trying to spot Stress’s area. The gigantic glass rainbow was a dead giveaway and she flew straight ahead.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>It only took False a few minutes of gawking at the beautiful area that Stress had settled before finding her sitting in one of the buildings. She was sprawled out in an awkward position on the floor with a book in her lap and various redstone components strewn around her. As False got close, she could hear Stress muttering to herself.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What the hell is this diagram? Is that part labeled? Of course not. And which way does that one go? How many times do I have to hit it? What does this thingy even do? Aaaaaah! How am I ever going to get this done?!?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Stress? What’s going on?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Stress suddenly turned to see False cautiously standing behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, hello False. I’m, I’m ‘doing redstone’,” Stress air-quoted dramatically.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How’s that working for you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Terrible! I got some plans for this contraption from a library, but I can’t make any sense of them!” Stress closed the book and sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How do people like Mumbo and Tango build those huge farms with all this, this stuff!” She waved her arms, gesturing to the pieces on the floor. “I tell you, I’m not cut out for this.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s okay, Stress. I’m not either. Sorry I can’t really help.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, no, you’ve forced me to take a break before I go bloody mad and burn this whole place down. Maybe I’ll ask Iskall for some help later.” Stress sighed before the glum look on her face was replaced with a perky smile. “Would you like some cake?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m not really in the mood for cake. Thank you though.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, don’t worry, love! I always have cake around if you ever want some! Here, I’ll grab some slices from my kitchen and we’ll chat for a while. I have a feeling that you’re here to talk, anyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Stress was great at detecting people’s emotions and it hadn’t taken long for her to figure out False. False wasn’t entirely sure where Stress wanted her to go, so she remained in place, awkwardly waiting for more direction.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Come join me in me brain, dear!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Your what?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Stress reappeared, carrying a container of cake.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Follow me!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False walked with Stress to a giant structure that, admittedly, did resemble a brain. Stress placed down two chairs and motioned for False to sit as she began digging into a slice of strawberry cake.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So, love, what’s on your mind?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I don’t know. I tried to work on my base this morning, but I keep making stupid mistakes and I’m just really out of it. Maybe I read too late last night. I hate going to bed, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Any particular reason why?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Every time I go to sleep, I wake up screaming and it’s kind of loud. I’ve been told that people can hear it from the shopping district.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ahh. I’ve heard it a few times before.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Anyway, I just feel like I’m in a weird funk.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hmm. Are you forgetting anything?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What do you mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Like, I felt really weird all day when I forgot my birthday once. It was like something was missing. Are you getting that feeling at all?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wait, let me think about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False racked her brain and immediately came up with something.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s been 8 months today since Wels fell asleep.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh. I’m sorry, love.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>After Wels fell asleep, False barely functioned for a few weeks and the news of their relationship soon became public without False carefully guarding the secret. It wasn’t sudden, but most of the Hermits knew by now one way or another. False could tell who had recently been told by the way they awkwardly offered up condolences or avoided her altogether for a while. Stress was one of the first to know and False had spent many days at her castle processing her emotions and eating cake last season. False had tried so hard to be alone this season, though, that she really hadn’t checked in with Stress in a while.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Stress pulled False in for a hug as False blankly stared into space.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“And I haven’t seen him for 3 months. I still remember what he looks like but it’s not the same.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Do you mind me asking a question?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, go ahead.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What would you do if he came back?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False thought about that for a while.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I suppose I would drop everything and try to find him. And I when I did, I would give him a big hug and then we’d start talking at the same time, asking what happened and if the other was okay. And then, I don’t know. But it would be </span>
  <em>
    <span>with</span>
  </em>
  <span> him, and that’s what would matter to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The two sat in silence for a few minutes contemplating False’s words. They were eventually interrupted by a buzz from False’s jacket.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, sorry. Let me check this.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False pulled her communicator from the inside of her jacket and fumbled with the display. Stress couldn’t see what was on the screen, but she could see False’s face turn white as a sheet and her mouth drop open with no words coming out.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“False? Are you okay? What’s going on?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Suddenly, False fainted and fell into Stress’s lap. The weight was unexpected, but what really shocked Stress was False’s communicator, lying face-up on the floor. One message was displayed clearly in the chat.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <b>[Welsknight joined the world]</b>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Lovely cliffhanger, isn't it?</p><p>In other news, I started an art book today on Wattpad. (@TheNerdyTurtle96) It's not great, but if you want to check it out, it's there. Chapter 6 will be out on Friday and until then, have a great day!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 6 (Wels)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hey, so what do you all think about checking in on Wels...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I knocked this chapter out in 3 hours after suffering through the Artemis Fowl movie. Still trying to forget about that one.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Man, that light is bright.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels rubbed his eyes, attempting to adjust from the utter black of his sleep. Looking around cautiously, he could see the rest of the room, completely still and seemingly complete except for one empty spot. Wels thought that some sort of glass sculpture should go there, making the empty area even more sad to him. Looking around some more, he suddenly realized that he had no idea where he was. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels shook his head a few times before his instincts kicked in. First, figure out where he was. Second, get a weapon. Third, figure out why he was here. Scanning his surroundings, he could tell that he was in a bedroom and that he’d been sleeping in the bed. The decorations were basic but well done and Wels didn’t see anything that looked dangerous. The air felt peaceful, but quiet; almost too quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Nothing in the room reminded him of anything he’d ever seen before, so Wels moved on to checking his pack. Inside seemed to be a bunch of supplies. Rummaging around in it, he pulled out some armor, an elytra and rockets, a full set of enchanted tools, food, and several shulker boxes filled with building materials. That seemed odd. Wels had never been here, yet he had all of his normal supplies with him. He listened closely to his surroundings one more time, but he heard nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Figuring it was probably safe, Wels hopped out of the bed and equipped his armor and elytra. It took a few moments for him to arrange his pack before he set out to explore. There was one door in the room and he cautiously opened it. Nothing jumped out at him, so Wels continued on. The house was gorgeously done and he stopped several times to admire the detail put into the building. “Whoever made this place must have been a great builder,” he thought.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Suddenly, Wels felt an odd, yet somewhat familiar buzz coming from his wrist. He looked down at it, surprised to find a black screen sitting there on a band that wrapped comfortably around his left wrist. A single message was displayed on the screen and he quickly read it.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <b>[cubfan135 joined the world]</b>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Fear suddenly gripped Wels. He knew that he wasn’t alone now. Whoever “cubfan135” was, Wels didn’t know, but he couldn’t assume anything. Dodging behind a bookcase and crouching to keep hidden, he scanned the area for any sign of another player, but he didn’t see anything. The screen buzzed again and Wels glanced around before checking it.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <b>[cubfan135] Hey Wels!</b>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What the-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>This player clearly was dangerous. They had the advantage of knowing who he was and Wels started to panic.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay, just breathe. I have my bow and arrows, my sword, and everything else. I’m prepared. I can do this. Aah!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He jumped a bit as the screen buzzed yet again.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <b>[cubfan135] can we talk?</b>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels thought for a while about what to say. Did he dare come near the other player, not knowing if they were friend or foe? Did he blindly walk to them, possibly into a trap?</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m prepared. I can do this.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Taking a deep breath, Wels tapped out a short message on the screen.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <b>[Welsknight] sure</b>
</p><p>
  
  <b>[cubfan135] meet me in the nether hub</b>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels wasn’t sure what “the Nether hub” was, but he did figure that it was in the Nether, so he found a portal nearby and traveled through it. On the other side, he was surprised to find himself not in a fiery, red hellscape, but on smooth green glass with black walls far out for a sky. Nearby, he spotted the other player and slowly crept towards him. The man was dressed in an Egyptian costume and quickly turned around at the sound of Wels’s footsteps.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wels! Man, I’m so glad to see you!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay…”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“By the way, I can’t believe you’re awake now! I’m Cub, in case you forgot me or something crazy like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels had no clue what Cub was talking about, but he played along as Cub started rambling about magical crystals and Season Seven. At some point, Wels was planning on asking what it was the 7th season of, but suddenly, Cub started talking about a portal.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...maybe we can use the Infinity Portal to get back! Come on! Let’s go try it!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Cub flew off and Wels coughed on the dust left behind by the rocket before following him. What else was there to do? They traveled through another nearby Nether portal and soon landed at an odd sort of portal. It had the eerie purple glow of a Nether portal, but the frame was made of diamond blocks instead of obsidian. Cub talked some more before taking a short pause and turning to Wels.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Do you want to go first?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels thought about that. Why not? This day was turning out to be quite strange, but he could still protect himself if anything bad happened and he was feeling a bit adventurous.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure. I mean, cowabunga, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He stepped carefully into the portal. Instantly, he regretted the decision, but he couldn’t escape the portal’s grasp now. Wels could feel his items being ripped away from him, leaving his pack empty and him defenseless. He tried to scream, but he couldn’t make a sound. The world spun in indescribable ways before he was spat out onto a patch of mycelium.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <b>[Welsknight joined the world]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>—————</b>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels rubbed his head while gazing up at the huge, detailed towers. He still had a bruise from crash landing into the new world. On the island, Cub had said some more stuff before flying off, but Wels had managed to ask one important question.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Where’s Xisuma?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“If you travel for a while in that direction,” Cub had gestured with his arm. “then wade through the jungle, you should find his towers.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Well, here he was. Wels wasn’t entirely sure how he knew Xisuma, but somehow he had a feeling that Xisuma was in this world. Perhaps Xisuma could explain why Wels was here, or just where he was. Wels could even picture the man in his head and hear his voice. The structures he had built were quite impressive, but unfortunately, Wels didn’t have an elytra and he had no way to get up to the entrance.</span>
  
</p><p>
  
  <span>Sighing, he turned his attention to a more pressing matter. He didn’t have any food, tools, or armor. Wels didn’t feel like trying to tackle the jungle, so he kept walking until he found a forest a short ways away from Xisuma’s area. Wels was about to start chopping trees when he heard rustles and a loud voice.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Bun Bun! Get back here, you silly rabbit!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>A few moments later, another player jumped out from behind the trees. The man looked as if he had been running for a while, but he suddenly stopped when he saw Wels.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wels! Oh my goodness! It’s been so long!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m sorry, but who are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, silly me. I forgot to introduce myself. It’s really been far too long. I’m VintageBeef, but you can just call me Beef.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay. I just got here and I don’t have any supplies and there’s people just seeing me and saying ‘Wels! You’re back’ and I don’t even know who they are!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Maybe you’re still waking up. I’ve been told you took a very long nap.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That too. I have no clue what nap it was. I just woke up and Cub was there and-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels’s head was spinning and he sat down for a minute to clear his thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I don’t know. Maybe I am tired. Ugh, words are hard.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That's fine. Did you say that you didn’t have any supplies?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah. I was just about to start chopping down some trees and then you came along.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay. Do you mind if I help you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Um, well, I suppose not. What about the rabbit?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Bun Bun? Eh, she won’t run too far and I’ll find her eventually. Here, you can have my spare axe. Then this will go faster.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Beef placed down a shulker box and searched through it before handing an enchanted diamond axe to Wels, who took it with shock on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hungry at all?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, um, yes. You know, you don’t have to-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh I don’t have to, but I want to! I’m always happy to help out a friend!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Am</span>
  </em>
  <span> I your friend?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Everyone here is my friend!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I guess I’m out of excuses.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Great! Let’s start!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels slowly got up and Beef handed him some cooked mutton. Wels ate some of it to calm his hungry stomach before using the axe to hack at a tree. Beef did the same and the two men worked through the forest in silence for several hours. Soon, Wels had tons of wood in his pack as well as some more food and he stopped to rest for a moment. Beef skipped over to him and handed him a water bottle.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Here, we’ve been working hard for a while. Remember to stay hydrated.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thanks. I think I have plenty of supplies for now.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Awesome. Here’s the wood I got.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, I can’t take it, You keep it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I insist. Keep the axe and the food as well. Oh, and take this bed. I know how much you like to sleep.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I-I-I...thank you so much, Beef.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Absolutely no problem! You can come over and visit me anytime. I’m just on the other side of the trees. Goodbye, Wels!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Before Wels could respond, Beef flew off into the distance and he was left gaping at the man’s generosity. Wherever Wels was, these people were incredibly kind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>An hour later, Wels had a full set of wooden tools and a simple wooden starter home created. He had added some small details, but he knew that he would soon have to create something bigger and better. For now, he only needed a place to protect his bed from dangerous mobs and set down some chests so that his pack wouldn’t get too cluttered. Sensing that the sun would be setting soon, Wels stepped inside of the house and settled into the bed. He fell asleep quickly in a peaceful, dreamless sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>—————</span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>When he woke up, Wels heard someone shouting. He quickly smoothed out his hair and made his bed before stepping outside, his face scrunched in confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wels? Wels of the knight? Where are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels didn’t recognize the voice and he didn’t recognize the player that soon landed in front of him. The way the man’s golden locks of hair bounced on his head didn’t appear threatening, but his red eyes set Wels on edge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Welsknight! So happy to see you! I’ve been looking for you for hours!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course! We’re all so happy to see you back!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, I’m kind of tired, so who exactly are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, completely understandable. I’m Tango of the Tek variety and it’s been so long and I’m so excited-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tango’s voice trailed off and Wels followed his gaze to the wooden sword in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh man. Are you seriously still using wooden tools? And you don’t have any armor. Do you even have a furnace?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels sheepishly shook his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really haven’t been here for long.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose if you slept last night then you wouldn’t have had- You know what, never mind. We’re going to fix this right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s do some caving! We can catch up </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>fix your sad situation here. Got a pickaxe?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once again, Wels was shocked at how quickly another player had jumped to help him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a wooden one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, that won’t do. Wait, I have a beacon on me! We can dig down to Y-level 12 and set up an instamine. Let me find you a pickaxe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m really fine. I’m sure you have things to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do, actually.” Tango pulled out an enchanted diamond pickaxe from his pack and handed it to Wels. “And they involve hanging out with you and getting you some diamonds.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tango walked to the edge of the clearing that Wels and Beef had created the previous day and started digging a tunnel down. Wels followed closely behind, occasionally reminding Tango to place a torch. After a while, Tango stopped digging down and started clearing out a cube of stone. Wels sat on the last step and watched as Tango placed down the iron blocks for a beacon and set the beacon to the Haste effect. Wels could immediately feel an odd energy surging through him. Tango grinned as he turned a pickaxe in his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s have at it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, can I please have some torches first?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah. Haha, derp moment.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tango rummaged through a shulker box and pulled out several stacks of torches and some chests. He placed the chests by the beacon and gave about half of the torches to Wels.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Now, </span>
  </em>
  <span>we can begin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two started to clear out the area, placing torches as necessary and emptying their packs into the chests every so often. They worked mostly alone for an hour before deciding to take a break. They sat down on the iron blocks of the beacon and ate some food together. Eventually, Tango turned to Wels and finally broke the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you mind me asking how you got here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, but I don’t really have a lot of answers. I woke up and I didn’t know where I was. I saw that Cub logged on and then he messaged me a few times before I met him in the Nether. He talked for a while and then he took me to some weird portal. I went through and I ended up on an island. He talked some more before flying off. I wandered over here and Beef found me and helped chop down some trees to make that clearing. I went to sleep, then I found you. That’s everything I remember.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh. Beef’s a great guy, </span>
  <em>
    <span>unless</span>
  </em>
  <span> you mess with his animals. Then he gets kind of scary, as Keralis has already found out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels didn’t recognize the new name, but he was now quite a bit scared. What if he’d accidentally made Beef mad? What would happen?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry. He won’t hurt you, or really anyone. It’s all in good humor.” Tango paused for a moment. “Is that really all you remember?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really, yeah. I wish I knew more. Say, can I ask you for a favor?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, totally.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you take me to Xisuma sometime? For some reason, I know he’s here and I asked Cub where he was but I can’t get up to the towers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure! You should probably get an elytra, but that’s for another day. Why don’t we do some more mining now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tango and Wels got up and went back to work. Soon they had filled all of the chests and Tango transferred most of the materials to shulker boxes. The two carried the boxes up to the surface where Wels organized them into several chests.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks Tango. I really appreciate your help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This was awesome! So happy to have you back!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tango took off, leaving Wels puzzled by the other’s kindness.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This isn’t my favorite or the best chapter at all, in fact, I probably need to rewrite it at some point. If you haven't figured it out already, this story isn't fully canon-compliant intentionally, so just chill if I got something wrong from canon material.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 7 (False/Wels)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>False and Wels say hello.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I went back and forth a ton about whose perspective to write the last part in. After carefully weighing the pros and cons, I decided to try it in Wels’ perspective and I LOVE IT! I’m not totally satisfied with the first part, but whatever.</p><p>Also, someone pointed out on the last chapter that I don’t use a lot of descriptions of dialogue in this story. My writing style changed drastically over the course of this story and you’ll see more of those as the story goes on. Eventually, I’ll go back and edit this story and add more descriptions of dialogue.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>False felt herself slowly waking up and she struggled inside the sheets of a bed as her eyelids fluttered open. Wait, why was she in a bed? She sat up suddenly, unable to identify where she was. The bed she was sitting in was in the corner of a room filled with cooking and brewing materials. Working at one of the stations and humming to herself was Stress, who suddenly turned around.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, False! You’re finally awake!”</p><p> </p><p>“What’s going on?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve been asleep for quite some time.”</p><p> </p><p>“How long?”</p><p> </p><p>“About a day.”</p><p> </p><p>“A day?”</p><p> </p><p>“You hit your head fairly hard when you fainted, love. Don’t worry. I’ve been watching over you and nothing’s broken.”</p><p> </p><p>Scrunching her eyes into her head, False tried to clear the cobwebs from her mind. She checked to make sure nothing was missing from her pack, ran her fingers through her frizzy hair, and swung her legs over the side of the bed.</p><p> </p><p>“So why did I faint?”</p><p> </p><p>Before Stress could answer, someone landed outside and started calling.</p><p> </p><p>“Stress? Are you home?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hang on one second, love. I’ve got to see who it is.”</p><p> </p><p>Stress rushed outside the doors and called out, “Yes, I’m by me brain!” False could hear someone run over to Stress and she warmly invited the hermit inside.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello Tango! So glad to see you! Please come in!”</p><p> </p><p>“Iskall said that you needed some help with some redstone..”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yes! I’m hopeless at it.” Stress suddenly noticed Tango staring at False.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t mind False. She’s just woken up and I think she’s still half-asleep.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, that’s no problem. Where’s this redstone contraption?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m trying to build a production line for me potion shop to make it more automatic. I’ll warn you, it’s a bit messy over there in my laboratory.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s fine.” Tango paused for a moment, seeming to be searching for something to say.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I just remembered. Um, False? Have you checked your communicator recently?”</p><p> </p><p>“I-I don’t really remember.”</p><p> </p><p>“I see. Anyway, I just finished a mining session with Wels. He seems to be getting nicely established, although he is quite tired.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wels?!?”</p><p> </p><p>“Just check your communicator again.”</p><p> </p><p>After a short bit of scrolling through the communicator’s screen, False could see the message from yesterday still clearly displayed.</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <strong>[Welsknight joined the world]</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>A mix of emotions swept over her and her trembling fingers nearly dropped the device as she put it back in her jacket pocket.</p><p> </p><p>“Where is he?”</p><p> </p><p>“He’s kind of out by Beef and Xisuma and Keralis. You know where that is, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I-I do.”</p><p> </p><p>“False, what are you doing?” Stress sounded concerned but False ignored her.</p><p> </p><p>“I have to go.”</p><p> </p><p>False ran outside and shakily took off, flying as fast as she could towards where Tango had said Wels was. Wels, her beautiful knight in shining armor, had finally woken up and come home.</p><p>—————</p><p>Inside of the wooden house, Wels sat on the bed, various pieces of paper cluttering the floor. He made some marks on one of them, looked at it carefully, and shouted in triumph.</p><p>“Yes! This is it!”</p><p> </p><p>The papers fluttered as Wels swept them out of his way to clear a path to the door. He poked his head outside, noticing that the sun was still high in the sky. Wels was feeling amazing. He had the plans for his house done and he had plenty of time to go to the shopping district and buy some necessary items. His mining session with Tango that morning had generated plenty of diamonds, which Tango had told him were useful for purchasing items in the shopping district. Wels had asked where it was and Tango had given him a vague description that made it sound like it wasn’t too far from his new area.</p><p> </p><p>Wels carried a boat out to the shore and made sure the boat was pointing in the correct direction before hopping inside. A few minutes of rowing later, he arrived at a mooshroom island, which was filled with all sorts of buildings. He got out of the boat, walked a few blocks up to the top of the hill, and spent several minutes admiring the wide variety of structures that made up the shopping district.</p><p> </p><p>In some places, there was grass, in others mycelium. Some roads were made of cobblestone, a few of quartz, and in several places there were no roads at all. The build styles widely varied from industrial to futuristic and everything in between. On nearly every shop there was at least one sign asking for support for a mayoral candidate. It was a mess, but it was an amazing mess that blew Wels away. He could never build a place like this by himself. Everyone, however many people that was, had contributed, he realized, to make this island a stunning display of the power of collaboration.</p><p> </p><p>Wels shook his head a few times, trying to return his mind to the present moment. Tango had mentioned several shops to go to and Wels wandered around for a while trying to find them. As per Tango’s recommendations, he bought an elytra, rockets from Tango’s own shop, and enchantments for his new set of tools and armor. After a bit more shopping, he was almost out of money and decided to return home.</p><p> </p><p>Flying with an elytra again felt amazing, but it took Wels a while for him to actually fly in the correct direction towards his area. Once he arrived at his clearing, he put his remaining diamonds away in his new ender chest and skipped outside with some of the building materials that he had purchased. He studied the plans one more time before placing the first blocks of his house. The process of framing was familiar and relaxing, which made the job go quickly.</p><p> </p><p>Wels almost finished the frame before noticing the setting sun and deciding to sleep. He was just about to leap down from the incomplete structure when he heard firework rockets. He instantly started looking around, trying to determine the source of the sound. It soon revealed itself when an unfamiliar player landed across from him. She seemed terrified and ecstatic at the same time, which was quite confusing to Wels. Her mouth dropped open and it took so long for words to come out that he began to wonder if something was seriously wrong.</p><p> </p><p>“...Wels? Is it really you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hello?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, oh my God! It is!”</p><p> </p><p>The woman stood frozen for a few moments before rushing towards Wels and crushing him in a tight hug. Bewildered, Wels could feel her tears rolling off of his shoulder and hesitantly returned the hug. For a few moments, Wels contemplated what to do, as he had no clue who this lady was. Obviously, she was incredibly happy to see him, so it would seem like they had met before. The only problem was that he couldn’t remember a single time that he had ever seen her in his life. Eventually, he decided to just ask for her name. That couldn’t hurt.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry, ma’am, but who are you?” The woman pulled back and her eyes, wide and panicking, met Wels’ similarly confused expression.</p><p> </p><p>“W-what?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m kind of new here and I don’t know who you are.”</p><p> </p><p>Wels could instantly tell that for some reason, that was the wrong thing to say. The woman’s face fell and she gaped at him in complete shock before she stumbled to her feet and flew rapidly away. Wels stared in the direction she had taken off in, still extremely confused, before shaking his head, leaping down from the platform and heading to bed.</p><p> </p><p>“That was the weirdest encounter I’ve had with another player, maybe ever,” he muttered to himself before falling asleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 8 (False/Xisuma)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Now it’s time to deal with our emotions! (Also, poor Xisuma...)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>AAH! I love this chapter so much! It was so fun to write totally-out-of-the-loop Xisuma. Plus, having scary False, well…</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>At that particular state in time, False had almost no control over herself. Her emotions had taken over and were flying her fast and far away from her disastrous encounter with Wels. Rationality poked through for just long enough to land False on top of her end shop. There, she resumed her crying and folded herself up, hiding her tear-soaked face from view. After several minutes, she realized two things. First, her position was very uncomfortable and second, she needed to think this through some more. Something about the meeting seemed off to her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>In her mind, False took all of the puzzle pieces that were flying around and attempted to start connecting them. Wels hadn’t recognized her at all. She must have looked very odd to him, as his expression had conveyed confusion the whole time she was there. She also knew that he wasn’t kidding around. This wasn’t the type of thing that he would have joked about and he had been completely serious. But how could Wels have forgotten her? The word “forgotten” tumbled around in her head until she remembered something; something from a long time ago.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Everything came together quite suddenly from there. The options for bringing him back, the confused manner, his sudden return; it all made sense now. Armed with logic, False’s emotions took over again, this time with rage in the driver’s seat. Her hands balled into fists and she clenched her teeth, knowing exactly what to do next.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>On the ground below, Impulse must have been walking by and he shouted, “False? Are you okay?” She ignored him and took off into the sky. If Impulse wasn’t concerned then, False knew he would be after she screamed, “I’m going to kill him!” She also didn’t care.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  <span>    Xisuma’s eyes slowly opened to reveal the hard wooden floor he was laying on. He hadn’t been aware that he was sleeping and his brain didn’t seem to be awake quite yet. Quietly groaning, he raised himself up on one arm and glanced around. Papers and shulker boxes were scattered everywhere in haphazard piles. He grabbed a few papers and flipped through them for a few minutes before setting them back down on the floor and sitting back on his other arm.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He was reaching to check his helmet’s communicator when he heard the unmistakable sound of firework rockets. There was also a loud scream accompanying it, which Xisuma heard as, “I’m going to kill him!” The voice was far enough out of range that he couldn’t tell who it was, so Xisuma listened for more shouts. None came, but the rockets sounded as if they were getting closer. His vision was still a bit fuzzy from sleeping so he couldn’t see who was coming, unfortunately. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>A few moments later, the player revealed themselves by landing forcefully on the opposite side of the platform from Xisuma. It was False and she looked terrifying, to put it simply. Her narrowed eyes and clenched teeth certainly made her look intimidating. She stomped closer and closer to him, stopping just a few feet away.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What the hell, Xisuma?!?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Xisuma started to panic. He racked his half-asleep brain, trying to remember if he’d done anything to upset her. “Upset” was an understatement, but he still couldn’t come up with anything.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I-I’m sorry? What?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You know what you did! But it won’t fly by me!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What did I do?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Stop playing dumb. I want answers. Now.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m really sorry, but what’s the question?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You-you-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False paused her berating and her face softened a bit as she looked around the very confused Xisuma.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You idiot! Did you overwork yourself again? No wonder it looks like you just fell asleep out here.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I-I-I think that’s what I did. I literally just woke up.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False heavily sighed. She still looked angry, but not quite as scary as she had before.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What are we supposed to do with you if you can’t learn to take care of yourself?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m sorry?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How long have you been out for?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Let me check.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Xisuma hesitantly pulled up a clock on his helmet’s visor and he yelped in surprise when he read the time.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“26 hours?!? Wh-How is that possible?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’d yell at you some more, but I don’t have any words for you, really.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Xisuma sheepishly snuck a glance at False, who was looking frustrated now.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you still mad at me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, I suppose if you’ve really been sleeping that long then you couldn’t have done it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You’re going to have to be more specific.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>There was a long pause before Xisuma looked up at False again. This time, her angry expression was completely gone and her eyes had a slight mist forming.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“False?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You haven’t checked your communicator recently, have you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No…”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Xisuma quickly unlocked the screen and scrolled through all of the messages he had missed. Soon he found one and he instantly knew it was what False was talking about.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <b>[Welsknight joined the world]</b>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“False, this is fantastic! I told you that he would come back!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>That was apparently the wrong thing to say. False wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took a shaky breath.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No. It’s not.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I-I-I-” She paused for a moment. “I just met with him about 15 minutes ago. I’d apparently blacked out for a whole day so I couldn’t go see him until then. I got there and-and-” Haunted, sorrowful eyes met Xisuma’s, breaking his heart. “And he didn’t remember me. He said that he didn’t know who I was. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He didn’t remember me.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” False whispered the shocking words so quietly that Xisuma could barely hear them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Automatically, Xisuma reached towards False, pulling the crying woman into a reassuring embrace. His mind was racing, trying to determine why False had changed her tone so dramatically from her earlier rage. Suddenly, it hit him. He quickly pulled up a user file on his visor and scanned through it to confirm his hypothesis. Unfortunately, he was right. He took a few more moments to decide what exactly to say before he slowly pulled away from False so that he could look her in the eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, you said that he… forgot you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False silently nodded, tears still streaming down her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, did you think that I reset him without his memories?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False nodded again, the movement smaller this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“False, I-I would never do that unless you asked.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A small flame of suspicion entered her expression.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, trust me. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I had done that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Her face changed to a mix of confusion and guilt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry for yelling at you like that. I didn’t know- I just thought that you were at fault automatically. I shouldn’t have assumed that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay. I forgive you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma gave False another hug as she choked out the last of her tears, half-laughing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Heh. I bet Impulse is really confused right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“On my way out here, he was watching me when I was screaming that I was going to kill you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Yeah, that would do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma could feel False smile as they pulled apart. After a few moments, False’s expression became serious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So if you didn’t delete his memories, then who did?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He furrowed his brow as he thought through that question. The hermits were good people, but one, or maybe more than one of them, had gone to quite the measures to bring Wels back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. It’s a lot of work to get to the user files. My admin communicator is in my helmet, so they couldn’t have gotten in there. Plus, you can’t touch user files from my admin communicator anyway. I do have physical screens for heavier tasks, but those are fairly well hidden and password protected. It’s mostly terminal based down there, too, so they would have to have known the correct commands to switch the interfaces or just manipulate the files from the terminal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, but you’re getting a bit technical.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, um, there’s specific code that they would have had to know in order to do anything on those screens.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That makes more sense. Does anyone besides you know the password?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve given it out to a few people in case something happened to me. I know I told Joe and Doc and two others that I can’t seem to remember right now. I don’t think any of them would have shared it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma could see that False was seething at the mention of Doc.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have any concrete evidence, though, so we can’t assume anybody did it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How are we supposed to get some?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll have a meeting, at least to let everyone know about Wels and maybe gather some more information. I don’t think inviting Wels will be helpful, though, and you’re going to need to let me do the talking.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Fair enough.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma quickly sent out a message to all of the hermits except for Wels about a meeting the next day in the shopping district. Several responded with confirmations before Xisuma closed the chat window on his helmet’s interface. He took a deep breath and turned back to False.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think most of them will be coming.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, Xisuma.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m always happy to help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you need any assistance sorting out these papers?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t mind. I kind of fell asleep the last time I tried.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False chuckled and the two hermits started to work through the mess of papers covering the floor.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Why does all my nice, pretty spacing get messed up every time I copy and paste from Google Docs? Ao3, Wattpad, just why?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 9 (Xisuma)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Xisuma leads an important meeting.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fun Fact: This was the first chapter for which I typed the first draft on my computer. For the first 8 chapters and chapter 10, I hand-wrote it in a notebook. I actually knocked out the first 4 chapters in one 8-hour writing session from 10PM to 6AM. Not the smartest decision ever, but it turned out okay. The problem was that my hands started seizing up and I couldn’t play piano anymore, which was a really big problem. Therefore, I started typing exclusively, which doesn’t hurt my hands as bad.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Xisuma was the first to arrive at the town hall for the meeting. He was running it, so he needed to be early to prepare. The hardest part was actually finding a spot to meet. The shopping district was heavily populated with buildings and the town hall was mostly taken up by the enormous diamond throne. After running through possible locations for two hours and spending another hour trying to fit a large table in the back of the town hall, Xisuma finally decided to just sit outside on the steps.</p><p>
  
  <span>Joe Hills had been the second hermit to show up to the meeting and Xisuma hadn’t noticed him until he had crashed into the man on his way outside. Short apologies had been muttered and Joe had calmly watched Xisuma play Tetris with the table. Once Xisuma had given up, Joe had started writing in his favorite notebook, sitting against the side of the building and surrounded by plants. Xisuma watched him contently scribbling out poetry, mildly curious as to what the poems were about. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>While waiting for more hermits to arrive, Xisuma dived into Wels’ user file to see if he could gather any more information in addition to his short scan from the previous day. He couldn’t access too much of it without his physical monitors, but he could definitely tell that False had been right. There were only a few, very recent memories of the hermits and almost none of Hermitcraft in the code. As Xisuma explored further into the file, his heart grew heavy as he realized what Wels must have been going through. The poor guy had been dropped into a foreign world with people he knew nothing about and yet, according to some admin commands, Wels was already working on a beautiful looking house. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>An hour had passed and Xisuma closed out of the file. Off in the distance, he could hear several groups of players arriving and he got up to try to spot them. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Coming from the north was Tango and Impulse, laughing their heads off at Zedaph flying behind them, who was telling some sort of funny story. Unfortunately, the two redstoners were distracted and flying so fast that they crashed hard into the ground. Checking his helmet, Xisuma could see that both Impulse and Tango were at two health points and Zedaph was now the one laughing. Tango screamed, “Curse you, Zedaph the derp!” while comically shaking his fist. His ridiculous facial expression only made Zedaph laugh harder.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Another trio was quickly flying in from the southwest, which Xisuma identified as Grian, Mumbo, and Iskall. Grian and Iskall were in the middle of a heated debate, which would have been scary if Mumbo hadn’t been laughing hysterically. They landed more smoothly than Tango and Impulse had and kept at their discussion without skipping a beat. Grian attempted to walk up the steps backwards and glare at Iskall at the same time, which worked fine until he smacked his head into a wall and started howling. Xisuma quickly checked to make sure Grian wasn’t seriously injured before leaving the jungle boys to their own devices.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Soon, almost all of the hermits had landed on the steps, found a spot to lean against the wall, and started to chat with someone else. The last to arrive was a very tired-looking False. Xisuma could instantly tell that she hadn’t slept after they had finished sorting his papers the night before. He shot her a small frown, which received no response. Xisuma clapped his hands twice and the conversations started to wrap up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hello everyone. Thank you for taking the time to come out here this morning for a very important meeting. First of all, who’s missing?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Scar really wishes he could come, but he’s not feeling great,” Grian explained.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thanks for letting me know. Is that everyone then?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I do believe so,” Beef replied.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Great! Grian, would you please catch Scar up to speed once he’s feeling better?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aye aye captain!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So I know you said to not tell Wels about this meeting, but why?” Etho seemed quite confused.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’ll get to that later, I promise. First, we have a few other matters to attend to.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are we going to talk about the mayoral race today?” Stress was practically bouncing off the walls, even though it was still quite early in the morning.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No. That will need its own meeting. Anyways, our first item of business is to welcome back TFC. This is slightly late, but we are so excited to have him back with us.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The hermits cheered and clapped as TFC shyly smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Next we will have some housekeeping reminders about the rules of the shopping district. The price for land is one diamond block per 100 blocks of space, or for each 10 by 10 space. When you claim a space, please mark that it is yours with a sign and some blocks to show the outline. Please add your diamond blocks to the diamond throne here in the town hall. Any questions?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ooh! I have one!” Tango had a mischievous smile on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you reading from a teleprompter or a cue card?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Most of the hermits chuckled as Tango grinned at Xisuma, who shook his head.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“As a matter of fact, Tango, I am reading from a document on my helmet. So teleprompter, I guess. Any serious questions?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Xisuma paused to wait for everyone to stop laughing before continuing.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright. Let’s move on. Final small matter: reminders about the map district. It is now an official area for you to create maps for anything you need. Please make it the same size as everything else and fit it neatly. Do not draw on other people’s maps. If you are using snow golems to create a white background, please make sure that they are properly contained. Any serious questions about-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Many people were stifling laughter as Bdubs loudly pretended to snore. Xisuma took a deep breath and rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Really?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, you talked for so long that I got tired and had to schweep! You know me.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I did not talk for that long! And this is supposed to be somewhat serious!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>Mumbo chuckled at Xisuma.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Have we ever had a completely one-hundred percent serious meeting?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, no. But that’s besides the point!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Is this actually a very important meeting or is it just the roast of Xisuma?” Zedaph had a slightly evil gleam in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m done reading off of the ‘teleprompter’ now, so you can stop making fun of me. This meeting is actually serious and important. Our next topic is, anyway. As many of you probably know, Welsknight is back with us after an 8 month absence.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>All of the hermits besides False loudly clapped and cheered. She gave a half-hearted golf clap. Etho had his hand raised, waiting semi-patiently for Xisuma to call on him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes, Etho?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So if we’re celebrating his return, then why isn’t he here?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, it had been brought to my attention that not all of Wels has returned. I’ve been going through his user file and he has absolutely no memories of Hermitcraft except for the ones he’s made in the past few days.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The hermits were silent for a few moments as everyone processed the information. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, raise your hand if you have a question. I’ll start with Tango.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What exactly does he remember?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“The file contains every memory outside of Hermitcraft. Inside of Hermitcraft, there are mentions of a few different hermits. There’s quite a few of me for some reason and some very recent ones for Tango, Cub, and Beef. There’s also one without a name.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh. That’s probably me.” Everyone turned to look at False, who added timidly, “I don’t think I ever told him my name.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright. Next question, Beef.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I guess this isn’t really a question, but it totally makes sense now. It felt really odd that he didn’t remember my name, but I thought that it was just that I hadn’t played during Season 6.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Same here. Heh, I said to him that I was Cub just in case he forgot me or something crazy like that. That feels so ironic right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“X, when did you figure this out?” Cleo completely ignored the request to raise her hand before speaking, but Xisuma didn’t say anything.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yesterday evening.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Didn’t Wels come back two days ago?” The half-zombie’s reporter side was coming out right then.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I was busy with a project, so I didn’t read the chat until then.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Xisuma glanced at False, who rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What should we do?” Jevin asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Um, well, he won’t recognize you if you haven’t met him in the last two days, so try to be friendly and just offer up your name right away. He also currently has no idea that he is in Hermitcraft right now and he won’t remember anything from previous seasons. To my knowledge, he does know everything else from before, like his building skills, though. If you have some free time, you could just go over and introduce yourself sometime in the next week. I’m going to try to work on getting his memories back this week, but I don’t have any guarantees.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Will he come to a group meeting soon?” Etho had another seemingly urgent question.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes, I think I’ll invite him to the next one. I just thought that it would be really weird to have him around so many strange people while we talked about him not remembering us. Does that answer your question, Etho?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah, thanks.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Any other questions?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The group seemed mostly satisfied with Xisuma’s explanations.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright. If you do have more questions, I”ll be happy to answer them. Meeting adjourned.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ugh, I wrote this chapter a few months ago and I don’t really like it but I also don’t know how to fix it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 10 (False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Xisuma and Falsie have a chat.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don’t even know how I feel about these chapters anymore. Just take it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>False watched as the other Hermits began conversations or flew off to work on projects. No one talked to her and she was left awkwardly standing around. She was about to fly off to her base when Xisuma lightly tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she spun around and narrowly avoided accidentally punching him in the face.</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Did you need something from me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes. How about we take a walk so that we can speak in private?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Where are we going?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How about the discount llamas?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Xisuma descended the steps of the town hall and waited for False to catch up before he started out towards his concrete shop. False walked beside him, slightly nervous about what could be so important to talk about at this level of privacy. The two soon arrived at the massive shop and found two crates to sit on.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So why are we all the way out here?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I have some things to say that I don’t think you want anyone else really hearing.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Now you’re being creepy.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, just struggling to find the best place to start.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How about from the beginning?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“If only it were that easy.” Xisuma sighed and scratched his arm before continuing. “I think I’ll start with Doc.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False’s stomach turned. She hadn’t been comfortable around Doc for a long time, but on top of that, she knew that he had deleted Wels’ memories. She didn’t actually know, but she had completely convinced herself that it was the truth.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I spoke with him last night after you went home. We talked for a while and he said that he didn’t touch Wels’ file.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Did you actually believe that?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“False, please trust me on this.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay, then who else did it?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’ve already told you that I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out who could have known my password and I’m talking with all of those people. And if Doc says he didn’t do it, then he didn’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’s what he would say if he did do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False could see the admin’s visible frustration as he took off his helmet and buried his face in his hands. He didn’t do this often, only when he was completely frustrated and worn out over an issue.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I just don't get why you are so mad at Doc. What did he do to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He has caused me terrible pain and hurt me deeply.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“But what did he physically do to you? If you’re talking about his conversations concerning Wels with you, he was only the bearer of bad news. I get that it hurts, but why are you so mad?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s not just that. He forced me to live in constant fear of the best thing in my life.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You are being very cryptic and vague and I don’t understand what you are saying.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He was the one who ruined my secret! He was the one who ruined my mental health! He was the one who ruined my life!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you talking about him finding you with Wels?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes, you idiot! He made me worry constantly for 10 months!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why were you so scared?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Because he might have revealed my secret!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Fair enough, but why did you have to keep it a secret?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False paused for a moment. She was on the verge of screaming at Xisuma again but the words caught in her mouth as she considered what she was about to say. Why </span>
  <b>did</b>
  <span> she keep it a secret?</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Were you scared of us?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I-I don’t know why. Maybe I was scared.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You know that all of us would have been very supportive of you and Wels?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Her thoughts tumbled around in her head and she struggled to answer Xisuma’s initial question.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“This is going to sound stupid probably, but I think that I </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> scared of you guys. I mean, I know that you would have been happy for us, and everyone, I think, but I was just scared of the...the expectations, I suppose is the word for it. I think I didn’t want to have to live up to some standard of what a woman in a relationship should be like and I was scared that I would have to if anyone else knew. And I didn’t want to have to endure any of the teasing. I know that it’s all in good humor, but it just hurts for me. I’m probably really over-sensitive, now that I think about it, but I just didn’t want to have to deal with that. Besides, Wels was, is my best friend. Maybe, I don’t know. I just didn’t want him to leave me, because I didn't want light, flirty attraction to be all that kept us together. I wanted, still want, to just do life together. And I knew it would be hard, but I didn’t know that it would get this hard. Because now he doesn’t remember me and we’ll never have that kind of a relationship again. I’ve lost him. I’ve lost my best friend and the love of my life at the same time and it just hurts...”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False choked back tears and stared at the floor for a while, trying to look anywhere other than at Xisuma. She was sure that he was sick of her incomprehensible rambling.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“False? Can you please look at me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Biting her lip, False attempted to mask her fear as she slowly brought her eyes to meet Xisuma’s.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Listen, you haven’t lost him.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“But he-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, you haven’t lost him.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“But I’ve already established myself to him as a crazy lady.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You can change that. I’m going to try my hardest to get his memories back, but even if I can’t, you haven’t lost him. You can make </span>
  <em>
    <span>new</span>
  </em>
  <span> memories. You should find him today and just talk for a while.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It won’t be the same.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It probably won’t, but your current relationship will never change if you don’t go talk to him.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False sniffled, knowing that Xisuma was right.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Maybe I’ll try that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’s good. I have to go, but I know that you can do it. And listen, not everything is Doc’s fault. I understand that you feel hurt by him, but you need to let go of some of your irrational anger. It’s hurting you more than anyone else.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Xisuma quickly ran out of the shop and flew off before False could get another word in.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  
  <span>False gently glided down from the clear early afternoon sky to land on top of a tall oak tree. She sat down and positioned herself to face the house in the clearing that Wels was building. He was currently placing down the purple roof and she watched him, captivated by the beautiful structure. Sure, it had been a whole day since False had last been in the area, but she was astounded at the progress that Wels had made. In just one day, he had built up the floors, walls, and windows. He was about half done with the roof and it looked lovely in the afternoon light. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>She sat there for about an hour, listening to Wels sing to himself as he finished the texture variations on the roof. When he placed the last of the blocks, he took off into the sky, presumably to see his build from a distance. False could just make out his gorgeous smile, which quickly morphed into confusion as he flew in her direction. She smiled at him and gave a slight wave. He cautiously landed on the tree next to her, sword equipped.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You’re back.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I am.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Why are you here?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I wanted to apologize for being so creepy last time. I didn’t realize that you didn’t know who I was. I’m sorry for acting weird.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright. Apology accepted.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Let’s properly meet.” False stuck out her hand. “I’m FalseSymmetry, False for short.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels slowly walked towards her and shook her hand.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m Welsknight, but you can call me Wels. Oh wait, you already know that somehow.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s okay. Still nice to meet you. Lovely house you’ve got here.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah. I’ve mostly finished the exterior but I need to add some decorations, do some terraforming, and decorate the inside.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I love building too, but my base isn’t close to finished.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Would you like me to show you the house?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes, please.” False grinned. Maybe she hadn’t lost him after all.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I’m a bit distracted today, so no long end note. Have a fantastic day!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 11 (False/Wels)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>False and Wels have some fun.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hoo boy, this chapter got long. I love the fluff, though, and this chapter really pushed me to try writing interactions shorter than I ever had before.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“And that’s pretty much the house. There’s not much in it, but I’m hoping to get it decorated soon.”</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s very lovely. Is this a fantasy build?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Yes. I’m trying that style for a bit and I think I really like this block palette.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels had just finished taking False on a tour of his new house and she was very impressed by it. Even though the place was pretty much empty, she could visualize the detail that she knew Wels would add eventually. There was a small, awkward pause as both hermits seemed to be looking for something to say. It was False who broke the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Um, well, not really. I mean, I could work some more on the house, but I could also work on it later.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Would you like to meet some more of the people who live in this world?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure, I guess. How many of them are there?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I can’t remember the exact number, but it’s around 20.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wow. That’s a lot of people.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Maybe I should go meet some more people.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Would you like me to give you a tour?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why not? You evidently know this world better than I do.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>With that, False flew up and into the sky with Wels following close behind.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  
  <span>“Beef? Are you home?” False loudly yelled at nothing in particular as Wels gazed at the colorful beach they had landed on.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Just a second!” A muffled reply was followed by hurried footsteps and Beef stepped out of a sandstone building a few moments later.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sorry. I was trying to wrangle some sheep and they were not cooperating with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’s just fine. Wels and I are meeting people on the server today.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, nice! I think we’ve already met, but I’d be happy to show you two around my place.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“A tour would be wonderful.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Beef led False and Wels through his hacienda, introduced them to his villagers, and wandered around the unfinished basement for a while as well. After about half an hour, the three players found themselves back on the beach, smiling and laughing.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So nice of you two to drop by!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thank you so much for the tour! I never get out here and that was a lot of fun.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Same here.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“My pleasure! Have a great rest of your day!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Beef waved goodbye as False and Wels took off into the clear, afternoon sky.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  
  <span>The next stop for the two builders was a jungle home, if it could even be called a home. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What is this place?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Etho calls it ‘the Monstrosity’.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, that it is.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ooh! I see him!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False shifted her flight pattern and plunged towards one of the acacia walkways, Wels right behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Etho!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The white-haired man yelped a bit as False crashed right next to him. Wels landed more gently and chuckled as False stumbled to her feet.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Man, that almost gave me a heart attack.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That was kind of funny,” Wels said amusedly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That kind of hurt.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What brings you two here to the Monstrosity?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Wels and I are meeting other people in the world today, since he doesn’t know many of them.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Awesome.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Etho stuck out his hand and Wels heartily shook it.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m Etho and I do redstone sometimes. I also build weird stuff.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I can, um, see that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Would you like me to show you some of it?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, and before the tour begins, would you like to sign up for a lifetime subscription of free glass?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False could tell that Wels was actually seriously contemplating it and decided to save him from the pain that Etho had caused her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, Wels, don’t do it! It’s not worth it, trust me!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Really, False? Not gonna give him a chance to decide for himself?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I’m doing him a favor.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Whatever. Let me show you my not-so-humble abode.”</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  
  <span>“That was insane.” Wels, who was currently flying with False away from the jungle, was still trying to wrap his head around exactly what he had just seen.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Etho or the Monstrosity?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I think both. Where are we going next?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Let’s swing back by Beef’s area and visit Keralis.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Was that the guy Beef was grumbling about? I think he said something about Carlos and a tank as well?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh yeah! Carlos is a turtle that they’ve been fighting over.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I really want to know the rest of this story.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Maybe Keralis will talk about it some more. Now, we’ve just got to find him.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels could see how hard of a task that could be looking out at the man’s massive city. There were tons of skyscrapers, a huge boat with many shipping containers, and a gigantic road leading off into the nearby jungle. It seemed to him as though they could potentially never find the man.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Did he build </span>
  <em>
    <span>all</span>
  </em>
  <span> of this?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yep!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He’s been busy.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Who’s been busy?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Behind him in the air, Wels could hear a silky-smooth and heavily accented voice and he spun around to see who it was. False laughed as she turned to see the wide-eyed man, too. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey Keralis! What are you doing up here?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I sees two little figures in my pretty skyline and I wants to know whose beautiful faces are up there!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Aah!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels hadn’t been paying attention and he had flown straight into one of the buildings. Fortunately, he landed fairly unharmed onto a balcony and False and Keralis had a good laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I guess now we’re even.” Wels grimaced as he pulled himself back up to a standing position.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Keralis, this is Wels, who’s just returned to the server.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aww! So wonderful to meet your lovely face!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Um, hi?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We’ve stopped by to say hello and maybe get a tour of your lovely city.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, that would just be amazing! Where would you like to start?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I-I’m not really sure,” Wels stammered.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Then we’ll just go see things! Follow me!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Keralis leaped off of the building and shot into the air. False gave an excited grin to Wels and the two followed right after him.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  
  <span>“Spank you so much for coming out to my lovely city! It’s been a true pleasure to meet you beautiful people!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, thank you! Have a great day!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Keralis took off, blew a few kisses back to False, and disappeared into one of the skyscrapers. Wels was leaning against a railing, looking extremely confused.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Keralis is a lot to wrap your head around, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah…”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He’s a very wonderful person, though. Are you ready to go?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Let’s go out to the jungle again! I haven’t talked to Stress in a few days.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Cool.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The short trip between jungles was spent in silence and False soon found the pink roofs she had been looking for just a few days prior. Stress was working on a redstone contraption again, although she seemed to be having much more success after receiving Tango’s help.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hello, Stress!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“False! You’ve returned with your lovely friend here!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Yes, I have. Wels and I are meeting people around the server today.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh how nice! I’m Stressmonster, but everyone calls me Stress.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hello. Nice to meet you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels gently shook the excited woman’s hand.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, I need to go get some cake and then we can all have a proper chat.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I really don’t need any cake. We’re just here for a short visit.” False turned back to Wels briefly. “Unless </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> want some cake. And then we’ll be here all night.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I think I’ll be fine as well.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you sure, dearies?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We’ll be okay, but thank you for the offer.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright. I suppose that I should show you around this place. Give you a tour, maybe?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That would be delightful!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yay!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Stress practically floated on air as she led an equally excited False and a still dazed Wels around her buildings. She finally convinced Wels to take a slice of cake and happily handed him a plate with what was probably more than one portion of cake. When they arrived in the kitchen, he sat on the chair in the corner, slowly nibbling his way through the slice, and Stress plopped down on a stool next to False, who was washing dishes on the other side of the room.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So, I know you took off kind of sudden last time you were here.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah, I never really got back to you. Maybe we can talk again soon when we’re alone?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’d be great!” Stress glanced around and lowered her voice before leaning in close to False’s ear.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“By the way, Xisuma sent a private message to everyone except for you and Wels that if you came around together, then we shouldn’t say anything about your relationship. He said that you should be the one to tell him, so you shouldn’t have any worries about that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False smiled a bit. Xisuma had done her a great favor that she hadn’t even asked for. Stress winked at her and bounced back over to Wels.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you done with your cake yet?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I think so.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Do you want some more?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“No thank you. It was very good, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh that’s great to hear.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Stress, we should probably get going. It’s been good to see you, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Fank you for coming around, both of you! Have a lovely night!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False led Wels outside and Stress waved and blew kisses as the two flew up and away into the evening sky.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>—————</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <span>Wels could see that the sun was slowly setting as False led him in an unfamiliar direction. He yawned, wondering when he could go home and sleep. The tours were lovely and he was enjoying his time with False, who was proving to be a great person to hang out with. However, it was his bedtime already.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you tired?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah. Normally, I’d be in bed by now.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I think we’ll visit just one more person today. You two will really have a lot in common.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Below him, Wels could see the shopping district, which looked quite small from his position. It wasn’t as small as it was on a map, but it also wasn’t quite as imposing as it appeared on the ground. Several times on the long flight, Wels felt himself drift a bit and False would loudly yell something random at him to keep him awake. After several minutes, they arrived at a beautifully decorated medieval village. False peeked inside a few of the buildings, asking if anyone was home. The fourth home yielded a muffled response.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hello? Anyone home?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Mvhauilr nasigvaui?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Are you in there, Bdubs?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Hanf on un sefong.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels glanced at False, who shrugged her shoulders and leaned against the doorpost. A few moments later, a plainly dressed man with dark brown hair sticking out in odd spikes staggered to the door. He squinted at the two builders as he held up a lantern.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey Bdubs! I didn’t know that you had already gone to bed.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s 8:30 and I need to get my schweep, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Maybe we’ll come back another day for a tour, but Wels and I just wanted to say hello.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, Wels! So happy to see you! I’m BdoubleO100, Bdubs for short. Sorry that I’m so tired.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I would probably be sleeping about now, actually, if not for False here.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m always happy to keep our two sleeping champions up past their ridiculous bedtimes.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ugh. I need to get back to bed, but maybe come back tomorrow or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That would be great. We’ll see you then!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span> Wels smiled at Bdubs as he gently closed the door.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“See, you two do have a lot in common.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Now </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> really want to go to bed.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Oh, alright. I suppose we can head back.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False shook her head as Wels loudly yawned before they took off once again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>—————</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels desperately fought to stay awake as False glided through the air towards his house. He simultaneously envied Bdubs, who was probably asleep again, and was glad that False had taken him to meet so many people in the world. The shopping district was shining brightly ahead and below Wels’ feet was a huge endstone platform. There was a player on the platform who was placing TNT all over it. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Shaking his head a few times, Wels thought he was dreaming but the player was still setting down TNT. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“False! Someone’s trying to blow up this platform!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Look by where I am!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Oh...I see now. Do you want to see what’s going on?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The two hermits spread their wings and made a gentle landing near the player, who was a bit surprised to see them.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aah! Oh my god! What’s going on?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Sorry. Wels and I were passing by on our way back to his house and he saw someone blowing up this platform. Didn’t realize it was you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, that’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Is this your base?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I suppose.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Why are you exploding it?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I’m not terribly happy with it and I have a better design that I’m going to build after I blow this one up!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh. That makes sense.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m iJevin, by the way. Nice to see you, Wels!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Nice to meet you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Maybe we’ll come back another day when your base is more complete.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’d be awesome. Have a great night, you two!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False took off happily from the platform, waving to Jevin as they left and practically dragging Wels with her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Come on. We’re almost home. You can stay awake long enough to get home.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“It’s been a very long day.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I know, I know. Ooh!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They had just passed the shopping district when a brilliantly glowing prism caught False’s eye. It was Impulse’s base, which was a beautiful mixture of sea lanterns, concrete, and water. Inside, she could hear a crash and a man laughing loudly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey Wels? Would you be up for maybe visiting Impulse?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Impulse lives down there and I’m pretty sure he’s home.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s very late.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’ll find you a bed, I promise.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Okay, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False swooped down through the water curtain and crashed near Impulse, giggling hysterically.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh my goodness, what do we have here?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“This,” False gestured to Wels. “is Welsknight at 9PM.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Wels yawned wide as he waved to Impulse.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hi. I’m really tired.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I can see that. I have lots of blankets and pillows sitting around right now if you need it.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I think I might just go take a nap.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False and Impulse tried not to laugh as Wels staggered over to a pile of blankets, laid down, and instantly fell asleep with his mouth hanging open at an odd angle. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aww! He looks so cute like that!” Impulse was whispering and making an odd face that reminded False of a happy puppy for some reason.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I might have to tuck him in a bit more.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>Kneeling beside the sleeping hermit, False picked up a blanket and gently laid it over top of him. Impulse slid a pillow under Wels’ head and they stepped back to observe their work.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He still looks kind of funny, but much more comfortable.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I agree.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Behind them, another player crashed into the floor and Impulse and False turned around and shushed them simultaneously. Tango carefully set down a shulker box and looked at the two hermits with a confused expression. False pointed to Wels sleeping on the floor and Tango snickered quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That looks hilarious!” </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I know, right?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Hey Tango, did you bring </span>
  <em>
    <span>all</span>
  </em>
  <span> of your movie equipment this time?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I think I did.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why don’t you double-check?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Whatever.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Tango made a big show of picking through his shulker box and demonstrating to Impulse that he did have all of the equipment.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Great! Let’s set that up on the second level so we don’t wake Wels here.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’s the movie?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I brought a classic: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Back to the Future</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Do you mind if I stay and watch?” False asked. She hadn’t seen the movie before, but figured that it might be fun, especially since she would otherwise have to sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, not at all!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False grabbed some blankets before heading up to the second level where Impulse and Tango were fiddling with the projector. After a few minutes, they managed to get it working and the three hermits laid back on the floor to watch the movie. Tango talked almost the whole time, pointing out his extensive background knowledge, and False told him to shut up several times. When the movie was over, the three had a heated debate on whether to watch the sequel or not, which Impulse and False won. Tango pouted for a while, but eventually watched the rest of the movie amicably. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>It was 1:30 AM when the third movie was over and Tango and Impulse had long fallen asleep. False was still plenty awake and she whispered goodnight to the two redstoners before traveling downstairs. She looked at Wels for a while, contemplating whether to leave him there or not. Finally, she decided to take him back to her base. A few blankets and some leads that were left hanging out of a shulker box made a makeshift sling for an easy ride to False’s tower. Once they arrived, she tucked Wels into her bed and picked up a book, waiting for morning to arrive.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the weird formatting. I literally posted this chapter using one thumb.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 12 (False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wels and False have a chat.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oof, this one hurt. Also, as I stated in my note, this was the chapter that I was procrastinating on writing when I discovered that False didn’t want to be shipped. Therefore, the flashback in the middle of the chapter turns back to a time when they were definitely dating, but I toned down the romance a lot from the first draft.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The corner of the paper caught on False’s fingertip as she turned the page and she muttered a silent “ow” before focusing on the text again. She had been reading this story all night, or rather all morning. It was a lovely tale of princesses and knights that Wels had given her the previous season. The book was the one thing that she had convinced Xisuma to let her take with her when they moved between worlds. For months, she had cried whenever she had read it, but now, with Wels back, she could enjoy the well-written words once more. </p><p>
  <span>Glancing over the top of the book, False observed Wels slowly waking up and stretching inside of the sheets. He hadn’t moved much overnight and the bed was still fairly neatly made. False set the book down on top of a chest, noting the page number, and pulled herself up to her feet. Wels was yawning and rubbing his eyes and she sat down near the bed to make sure he was okay.</span>
</p><p>“Good morning, sleepyhead.”</p><p>
  <span>“Wh-wh-where am I?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, that’s right. You fell asleep at Impulse’s base.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Who’s Impulse?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were probably too tired to remember him, but we were flying back to your house and we stopped at his base to say hello. Then, you fell asleep on the floor.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I did?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep.”<br/></span>
</p><p>”Is this Impulse’s base? Because I’m pretty sure that you’re False.”</p><p>
  <span>“Man, you really are tired. No, after you went to sleep, Tango came over and we all watched a movie. The boys fell asleep and I carried you over here and tucked you into bed. I figured it would be more comfortable than a stack of blankets on a stone floor.”</span>
</p><p>“So this is your base?”</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels lazily rolled his head around on the pillow and smiled.</span>
</p><p>“This is a really nice place.”</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, so if I’m in your bed, then where did you sleep?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False glanced down at the floor sheepishly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>”</span>
  <span>What?!?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“So you can go an entire day without sleep?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>”I’ve done it many times before.”</span>
</p><p>”That’s not good for you.”</p><p>
  <span>“I know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t you sleep? Now that you mention it, you really look like you need a full night’s rest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bringing a hand up near her eyes, False could feel the dark lines under them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t like sleeping. I have bad nightmares.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both hermits looked in other directions in awkward silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, do you mind me asking what they’re about?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>F</span>
  <span>alse wasn’t entirely sure if she did mind or not. On one hand, she wanted to tell Wels about her dreams. She wanted to give him back the memories that she had so diligently kept. She wanted to tell him everything, absolutely everything. On the other, she worried that he would be scared off by them. She worried that Xisuma would be wrong and she would push him away forever. She worried that he wasn’t ready yet to know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her mind tumbled these thoughts around like laundry in a dryer and she could not decide on a course of action to take. Suddenly, a memory that she hadn’t recalled in a while came back to her. </span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  <span>It was during the move to Hermitville in the previous season, when all the glitches with the new update had been driving the community mad. False occupied herself by teaming up with Doc to fight off the never-ending raids that came through the new settlement. The pillagers weren’t that hard to get rid of, but they still scared her sometimes. On one of the nights that she had actually slept, False had a terrible nightmare about the pillagers. In her dream, the pillager waves were insanely strong and she could not defeat them. They backed her into a corner and they started to torture her, slowly draining her life, yet never actually killing her. False woke up suddenly, sobbing and whimpering loudly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels was sleeping over that night across the hall and heard her cries. He walked over to her, pulled her into a hug, and quietly reassured her as she regained control of herself. Once she could talk, she recounted her nightmare and looked up at Wels, tears still glassing over in her clear blue eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry, False. It was just a dream, though. You’re safe here. I will protect you, we all will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels gently kissed her forehead and False soon fell asleep again in his embrace, smiling contently.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  <span>False bittersweetly smiled at that memory, knowing what to do now. She would just have to be careful and slow about this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t I tell you about the world we are in?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, does that have to do with your nightmares?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will get there eventually, yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. Please go ahead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She took a deep breath before beginning her story.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Many years ago, a group of players gathered to explore a new world, together. They had one leader, an admin, but they each went off and did their own thing in the world. Thus, they began to call each other hermits. After a while, some of the players got bored and decided to leave the group. This happened to many of the players and even the admin left. Soon after that, one of the remaining players took charge and became the new admin. One of the first things he did was to gather the remaining players and go to a new world. A few new players joined the group in that new world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The new group built all sorts of things in their world. They built fantastic buildings, enormous cities, and complex redstone machines. They also loved to work with each other and play pranks on the others. The new world was wonderful, but soon, players started to get bored again. A few players left, a few players joined, and the admin took the group with him to another world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They called each world that they built a season, which lasted as long as they collectively decided it would. This process repeated many times for many worlds. Players came and went, but the idea of playing together never left. The entire group called themselves hermits and the collective, Hermitcraft. A few months ago, the admin took the group to a new world once again, which is now the 7th season.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This group, Hermitcraft, is where we are. This world is the 7th season. You came here in the 4th season, I came in the 2nd. The admin is Xisuma, a fellow you should meet soon. And the group is the players that you have met, plus many more that you haven’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False stopped for a breath and glanced at Wels, who was looked to be still absorbing all of the new information.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry for interrupting, but I have a question. If I joined this group in the 4th season and it’s the 7th season now, then why don’t I remember anything from the previous seasons that I was supposedly here for?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nervously biting her thumbnail, False resolved that Wels needed to know the truth and plunged ahead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The 6th season was my absolute favorite, and the worst one of all. I spent lots of time with you and we were content and happy together. A few months before the end of the season, you went home one night and you didn’t wake up.” She paused to suck in a hard breath and fight back incoming tears. “We tried so hard to wake you up, but you wouldn’t. Eventually, we had to leave the world with you behind.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did you do that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>”It’s... complicated. I’m not the best person to explain that. Then, a few days ago, you came back and you didn’t remember anything about us. I knew that it might happen,” False was trying to keep her explanation simple and hide the sharp spikes of the story from Wels for now. “But I wasn’t expecting it. That’s why I went a bit crazy the first time I met you in this world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. I understand now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels appeared to be ruminating on this explanation before his face lit up in a mixture of confusion, shock, and something that False couldn’t identify.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, did you say that </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> were content and happy </span>
  <em>
    <span>together</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, y-yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mouth dropped open a bit and False tensely waited for him to connect the puzzle pieces so that she wouldn’t have to say it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is going to sound ridiculous, but were we… dating?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She gave the slightest nod, terrified of what might happen next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, oh my God.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few more seconds of tense silence passed before Wels stumbled out of the bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have to go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need to go see someone I should have seen sooner.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before False could get another word in, Wels shot off into the air and out of her base. Her heart pounded furiously, the overwhelming emotions drowning her head until she crumpled to a heap on the floor, crying completely alone.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Question: do you want me to format all of the spacing/indentation nice like this or do you not care if it’s not uniform?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 13 (False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Stress comforts False and a memory is revealed.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Similar to the note from the last chapter, I removed a lot of romancey stuff from the flashback, but it’s crucial for them at that point in the past to be dating. Also, this chapter hits on a topic related to relationships that I’ve wanted to address for a while: retaining individual identity. I’d explain it here, but just go read this chapter because Stress explains it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything in the world seemed to pale in comparison to False’s sorrow. Mixed with guilt and shame, the emotional cocktail was enough to reduce her to a sobbing heap. She should have used different words. She should have changed the subject. She should have never told him anything. She’d scared him off and put the final nail in the coffin. Maybe it wasn’t her fault that Wels had fallen asleep or that he had his memories deleted and maybe Xisuma was right that she needed to stop feeling guilty and responsible for it. But she had done this all by herself. There was no one else she could blame for him running away; only herself.</p><p>
  
  <span>And blame herself False did. For a while, she took her anger that had previously been aimed at Doc and turned it on herself. Unshielded, it tore her apart slowly, bit by bit, but False did nothing about it. She deserved it, after all. Xisuma was right: it wasn’t Doc’s fault, it was all her own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False couldn’t tell how long she laid there in agony, but at some point, there was a small splash that echoed through her base and briefly drowned out her other emotions. Perhaps Wels had come back after all. When she saw that it was Stress, she cried even harder than before. Her hopes had soared, only to be violently brought back down to Earth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, love. What’s going on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False didn’t offer an answer, partly because she didn’t have one. Evidently no one cared about her, or at least the one who mattered the most to her was gone forever. They would grieve, sure, but after a while they would all adjust to life with her and one day, she would be completely forgotten. Resistance to going further down this train of thought was not met well and False simultaneously fought for both sides of her mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the back of her head, she could feel Stress placing a hand on her shoulder. False thought about brushing it off and was about to do so when a memory struck her. It was one that she had tried to avoid for a while. Now, it was more painful than ever.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  <span>The clear night sky revealed many beautiful stars hanging over the battlefield and the ground fires below gave a pleasant glow to the atmosphere. A slight breeze chilled False’s feet and rustled the leaves in the nearby bushes. She could feel a familiar hand gently resting on hers and she leaned her head onto Wels’ shoulder. He smiled and kissed the top of her head, which was free from her aviator goggles for now. No words needed to be exchanged as the two sat on the edge of the balcony, calmly observing the night together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The passage of time seemed irrelevant as the landscape remained mostly static. However, after some amount of time, a creak could be heard coming from behind False. Two small footsteps and a gasp followed it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my God…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False quickly turned around, Wels gripping her hand protectively. Doc was standing in the doorway, his non-metal hand covering his mouth and his normally scary eyes disarrayed in pure shock. Fear rushed through False and overwhelmed every emotion and thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>No no no no no! This can’t be happening!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Her eyes filled with tears and her breath grew ragged and shallow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t-I-I-I…” Doc seemed to be at a loss for words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please!” The rest of her thought stubbornly refused to come out of her mouth. Another small breath entered her lungs and she sputtered the rest of the sentence out finally. “Don’t tell!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I promise. I won’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I won’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please…” Tears spilled out of her eyes involuntarily and she didn’t bother to wipe them away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry. I won’t tell anyone.” With that, Doc hurriedly closed the door and his footsteps rapidly faded away. False finally broke out into true crying and Wels pulled her in close. Her tears fell onto his shoulder, soaking his shirt, but he didn’t appear to care. He gently rocked back and forth, rubbing False’s back and slowly calming her down. What seemed like hours passed before words could come out of her mouth again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry. I-I panicked.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay. You have nothing to be sorry for.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I looked so stupid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are not stupid. You just reacted in the moment. It’s okay. You’re safe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What if he tells someone?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels kissed the back of her head and peacefully smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then it will be okay. We’ll be together. It will be okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His reassuring words resounded throughout False, finally allowing her to relax. Eventually, False adjusted her position to bury her face into her beloved knight’s chest. Strong arms wrapped around her, keeping her safe and warm.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  <span>To False now, that memory was so terribly bittersweet. It had meant the end of a completely private relationship and the first of several public breakdowns. Wels had been there to save her from her own self then. He wasn’t here now. Stress was a lovely person and a great friend, but she wasn’t the same. Remembering the beautiful romance of a previous life was terribly hard on her. Some part of her craved that kind of attention and relationship once again. Racing as fast as it could, it wanted False to tell everything and to bring things back to the way they were. Another part of her knew that things would never be the same.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Love, are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trying not to scream that she was obviously not okay, False settled for, “No, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False was trembling still and she knew that her face probably looked awful, but she rolled over slightly to face Stress anyway. The woman’s face was awash with concern and a feeling that False called “motheriness”. Stress gently helped False lean against the nearby bed, which was still giving off the mildly distinguishable scent of Wels. Choking down another round of tears, False blankly looked at Stress, who seemed to be getting in “therapy mode”.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to talk about what happened?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t and did at the exact same time. The side of her head telling her that nothing would get better if she never said anything finally won.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was planning on scheduling a time to chat with you when I dropped by here, but I suppose that now works just fine as well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False gently sighed as she attempted to come up with a coherent way to express her thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I-I didn’t mean to, but I scared him away.” Her voice dropped several volume levels. “I was taking him to meet all of these people and we were having such a great time. He looked so happy and I was so happy and it was just like old times. I dragged him over to Impulse’s base and, gosh, he was so sleepy. He just conked out right there on the floor and eventually I took him here. He woke up and we were just talking and I started explaining what Hermitcraft was and he asked why he didn’t remember any of it.” False had to take a deep breath before finishing out her story. “I tried to explain so carefully, but he caught onto something and… and he figured out that we were together before he fell asleep and he looked so scared and then he flew out of here. He said that he had to go see someone, but I think… I think that I scared him off for good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The words tumbled out of her mouth so fast that False could barely comprehend what she was saying. Stress seemed to understand, though.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“You know, love, I think that you deserve a break.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I can tell that you’ve been blaming yourself for all of this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But it’s my fault!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe it is, but you need to give yourself some grace. You need to forgive yourself before you can forgive anybody else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean by that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know from what Xisuma said that somebody purposely erased Wels’ memories. One day, we’ll find that person and you’ll be very, righteously angry at them. However, someday, you’ll also have to forgive them and if you can’t forgive yourself, then you won’t be able to forgive them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose you’re right. But what do I do about Wels?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I think that you should go take a true vacation. You need to rest and relax as an individual, FalseSymmetry. Wels has chosen to take a break as well and I think you need some time to rediscover your individual identity.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>Stress politely sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wels is not a bad person; in fact, I think he is a perfect match for you. However, who you are has been wrapped up in him for so long that I think you’ve lost sight of who you are </span>
  <em>
    <span>apart</span>
  </em>
  <span> from him. Some time away from him, knowing that he is okay, will help to find yourself again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Does that make sense to you?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I mean, yes.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“That’s probably not what you wanted to hear.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not really.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I suppose that if you want to take out your frustration and anger by building around here or campaigning extra hard, then you can. However, you, and probably Wels, have so many emotions still residing in you that going back to each other now would not be a smart idea. If you are going to do what I think you will and ignore my advice to take a vacation, then at least don’t go see him for 48 hours. Can you promise me that?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. Would you mind if I left now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. I need some time to think.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay. See you later, love!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stress gave False a quick hug before taking off and leaving False alone with her thoughts once more.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 14 (Wels)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wels talks to some people.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I purposely put False’s chapter first because I love the way that it’s like “False, you scared him away from you forever” and then you get this. Also, giant internet cookies to anyone who can figure out the reason that I picked the song that Xisuma is listening to.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>One thought was constantly playing itself on a loop in Wels’ head as he flew as fast as he could away from False’s base: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh my gosh, we were dating?</span>
  </em>
  <span> False had been such a lovely person to be around when they had been visiting other people the day before, but she had seemed unusually energetic and… bubbly. Of course, that could be her personality all the time, as Wels had no way of really knowing, but it made sense now that she had been so excited to be around him. He wasn’t necessarily scared of her now, he just needed to process his thoughts somewhere else. Additionally, he actually did need to talk to someone. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The massive, colorful towers soon appeared in Wels’ field of vision and he instantly remembered something from his second day on “Hermitcraft”, as False had called it. It was during his mining session with Tango when he had asked if Tango would take him to meet Xisuma sometime. Perhaps it was time to cash in on the promised favor.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Tango? Are you home?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>Below, Wels could see a small figure wandering on the ground and he waved at it. The person waved back and called, “I’m down here, Wels!” Wels landed gracefully next to Tango, who was carrying a shulker box bursting with purple concrete.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hey there! Nice of you to drop by!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Do you need a hand with that?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s actually not that heavy, so I think I’m good. Thanks for the offer.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you busy right now?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I mean, not really. Do you need something?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Um, yeah.” Wels nervously shifted his feet. “Do you remember when I asked you if you would take me to Xisuma sometime?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Tango’s face was blank for a few moments before lighting up with realization.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh yeah… I’d almost forgotten about that! Let me guess, you’re here to collect?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright. Let me just set this shulker box down and then we’ll go find our lovely, derpy admin.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Tango rushed off with his shulker box and returned a few minutes later, panting breathlessly. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ow ow ow ow ow.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Did you stub your toe?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“No, I dropped the freaking shulker box on my foot! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ow ow ow</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ooh. Sorry about that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s mostly, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ow</span>
  </em>
  <span>, okay. Anyways, let’s go!”</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  
  <span>The two hermits quickly flew over to Xisuma’s towers, passing several bases along the way. Wels had already received a tour of most of them, so he didn’t ask if they could stop. Tango flew in a few nonsensical circles before finally aiming towards the wooden platform sitting on top of a tree. Wels followed him and landed quietly behind Tango. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahead of them was Xisuma, who looked quite different than the picture Wels had in his head. Instead of green, scaled armor, Xisuma appeared to have repainted it in a golden honeycomb pattern. The man himself was sprawled out in a chair, appearing to be napping. Rock music blasted out of a radio nearby. Tango appeared to be surprised by the man’s choice in music, but Wels was enjoying the song.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What is there left for me to do in this life?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Did I achieve what I had set in my sights?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Am I a happy man, or is this sinking-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>At that point, Tango shut off the radio. Xisuma sat up suddenly, looking around before rolling his eyes at Tango. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? I was kind of enjoying that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I couldn’t stand it any longer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever.” Xisuma sighed and forced a smile to his face. “I suppose that you’ve come to me with a bug to fix. It’s fine, I’ve already had a nice vacation for a day. It’s time to get back to work.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Actually, I don’t know why I’m here.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>Xisuma scrunched his eyebrows into an odd state. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What exactly do you mean by that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Wels here was the one that wanted to visit you. I’m just tagging along because he asked me to.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels shyly stepped out from behind Tango and waved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my goodness me, I’m such a derp. I can’t believe that I haven’t actually gone over and talked to you yet. This is so embarrassing.” Xisuma lept up from his chair and shook Wels’ hand. “I’m Xisuma and I’m so glad that you’re here.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“You know, for some reason I actually know who you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma froze for a moment before facepalming. Tango was barely holding back giggles watching him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No! Double derp! Gah! How did I forget that? I must have spent too much time out in the sun.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tango finally lost the battle after hearing Xisuma and fell over on the floor, laughing hysterically.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What in the world is so funny?” Xisuma stared at Tango like a parent who didn’t get a joke their kid found hilarious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Several high-pitched noises that didn’t come close to resembling words came out of Tango’s mouth and Wels shook his head amusedly. After a minute, Tango finally composed himself and sat up, wiping the tears from his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, it’s, it’s been a while since you’ve done a double derp, but this one just takes the freaking cake.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for reminding me. Now, are you here just to laugh at me or what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No… it’s kind of weird.” Wels scratched the back of his neck, struggling to explain exactly why he had come.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe we should sit down. Whatever it is, I’m happy to listen and try to help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” Wels sat on top of a chest, Xisuma leaned back in his chair, and Tango remained on the floor. Wels took a deep breath and tried to find a good place to start explaining.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, I’m not really sure where to start, but two days ago, I met False and she was a bit, um, creepy. It’s kind of hard to explain, but she was just so excited to see me and I had no clue what was going on and, yeah. Anyway, she came back the next day, which was yesterday, apologized for being creepy, and then hung out with me for the whole day. She still seemed really over-the-moon, but I wasn’t really sure what was going on so I didn’t say anything. We just visited a bunch of people and I fell asleep at a base somewhere. I woke up this morning and I was in False’s base. We started talking about stuff and she started explaining where we are and what Hermitcraft is and the like. And I was kind of surprised that she told me that I had been here for a while and I asked her why I didn’t remember anything. She said that it was complicated and that for some reason they had to leave me behind because I was asleep or something.” Xisuma looked pained at that statement, but Wels continued on. “And she said something about us being content and happy together and it took me a moment but I asked her if we were dating and she nodded and, I don’t know. I didn’t know what to think, but I figured you might have some answers. I’m kind of wondering if she was actually telling the truth.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>Xisuma and Tango both stared at Wels, completely stunned. He was scared that he had said something terrible when Xisuma finally broke the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, well, I’m not entirely sure what she told you about Hermitcraft, but you were dating her last season. And you did fall asleep and we did have to leave you behind.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Wels had automatically assumed that False was telling the truth back at her base, but Xisuma confirming it seemed to have a heavier weight on him. He also now had more questions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, why don’t I remember anything? Did I hit my head really hard or something? Is there any way to get my memories back?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I can only answer the first two.” Xisuma sighed and glanced over at Tango before speaking again. “Basically, we figured out after a while that you had been afflicted with a certain condition that caused you to be dormant. You were alive, but not conscious. It was kind of like you were in a coma. We looked at various options and we could either wait it out or delete some of your memories.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I might be getting technical here, but your user file was so large that we couldn’t manually restart the whole file. We would have to delete certain sections of it to be able to restart you without crashing the entire world and that sort of thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That kind of makes sense.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyway, we presented these options to False, because she cared the most out of all of us about what happened to you,” Xisuma’s gaze flickered over to Tango. “To put it mildly. And she... didn’t really take to the thought of deleting your memories well. So, we decided to leave you be. Unfortunately, when we went to transition between worlds, we discovered that taking you along in your dormant state would very likely kill you. Therefore, we left you behind. It was a hard decision, but there wasn’t really another option. According to what I’ve heard from Cub and some other people, you woke up in Season 6 three days ago and Cub found you and brought you here to Season 7, where we are right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But without my memories? I thought you said that False didn’t want you to do that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did. I’ve also discovered that somebody, without my permission, went into your file and deleted some memories, then manually restarted your file. I don’t know who they are yet, but finding them is my next task.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you get my memories back?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“That’s what we’ve been working on. I promised False that I would try yesterday, and unfortunately, we don’t have anything yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One more question: why are you telling me all of this?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>The admin appeared to think about that for a few moments.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you deserve to know. You don’t have malicious intent. You aren’t going to use this information to hurt others. And I think you, and everyone else, will feel better if you know what happened.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels’ head tried to process the overload of information that Xisuma had just dumped on him. Tango and Xisuma sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting for Wels to respond. Before he could, another hermit landed on the platform, not appearing to notice Wels or Tango, instead heading straight for Xisuma.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey X. I know that you’ve been trying to relax out here but I thought that I’d give you a progress update.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, perfect timing. Wels and Tango are here with me right now and I’ve just finished catching Wels up to speed on what happened to him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man looked confused before turning around and looking at Wels. The knight extended his hand out to the man, who stared at it for a few moments.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice to meet you, whoever you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man relaxed and heartily shook Wels’ hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahh. Nice to see you back, man! I’m Docm77, but you can just call me Doc.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma politely cleared his throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what do you have to report on?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing much, actually. I’ve been digging through some stuff for a few hours, but I haven’t really found anything. Just wanted to check in real quick.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s okay. Do you want me to come join you?” Xisuma sounded exhausted, but also eager to help Doc with whatever he was doing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’d be nice, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want us to go then?” Tango had been watching the conversation for a while without speaking, making everyone a bit surprised to hear his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, if you really wanted to, then you could come watch us work but it’s probably going to be really technical and boring,” Doc answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” Wels spoke up. “I’m just happy for these explanations.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do they make sense?” Xisuma seemed mildly worried that they didn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I suppose. I think I just need some time to think about all of this and decide what to do about False.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand.” Doc placed a reassuring hand on Wels’ shoulder. “We’ll try our best to help you out, man.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, Doc.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Zizuma, I suppose we’d better be off,” Doc sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. Have a great day, you two!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tango and Wels waved as Xisuma and Doc flew off into the distance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what do you want to do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure. I think I’m probably going to go back to my house and keep working on it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds great to me. I’ll be at my towers if you need anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two smiled before flying off in different directions towards their homes. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 15 (False/Doc)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Stuff is going down (hill).</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Stuff is going down. Any guesses so far on who “the man” is? Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon. I think mild swearing and decently graphic descriptions of violence are the warnings for this chapter. Also, the entire reason that the first scene in this chapter exists is because of this clip from “Rise of Skywalker”: https://youtu.be/OuGdM2jx94w</p><p>Please read the note at the end.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Breathe in, two, three, four. Breathe out, two, three, four. Breathe in, two, three, four. Breathe out, two three, four.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>False repeated the cadence in her head as she calmly floated about 6 feet off of the ground. That very statement sounded odd, but she was quite enjoying it. She could sense the presence of Joe nearby, where he was playing with a puppy and keeping an eye on False. She had come out here a few hours ago and asked Joe if he had any recommendations for “finding herself”, as Stress had suggested. Her thought was that he would probably have the best answer, although he also definitely had the longest explanations attached to his answers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His solution was to meditate with the Force, which False was initially very skeptical of. However, after she had watched Joe do it and had him teach her, it became quite fun. She wasn’t entirely sure what was in the potion that Joe had given her before they’d started, but she didn’t really care at this point. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated her mental energies on the movement of her muscles and stretched her arms out, palms facing down. As she visualized the motions, False could feel herself turning slowly and after a few moments dared to open her eyes. The world was completely upside down and she kept looking out at the moving landscape as she finished out the flip. She was nervous about the landing but managed to end up in her initial levitating position. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Joe! I finally landed one correctly!” False was beaming with pride and Joe seemed quite excited as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice work! See, it just takes practice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I’m going to do that again!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False grinned as she closed her eyes again and breathed. The motions now felt natural and she opened her eyes as she turned in the air. On a whim, she stopped moving once she was fully upside down and looked around. The view was amazing, although she could feel the blood painfully rushing into her head. False was about to turn right side up when she heard a voice behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, False.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Startled, she lost concentration and crashed to the ground. False grimaced when she felt the back of her head. Nothing was bleeding, but her head really hurt. A gloved hand extended itself to her and she pulled herself up right next to Xisuma.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you know where Joe is?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the mention of his name, Joe set down the puppy that was in his lap, encouraged it to go play at Jurassic Bark with the other dogs, and skipped over to Xisuma.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m right here, Xisuma. Although I was over there in a previous moment, I am currently right next to you in our metaphysical universe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay then. I need to talk to you privately about an important issue.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will be happy to discuss any manner of thing with you at most of the moments in time, and this particular moment is one of them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I’ll go now to give you guys some space. Thanks for helping me, Joe!” False interrupted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma and Joe waved at False as she flew off back towards her tower. Once she arrived, she laid down on the floor and stared at the ceiling for a while. False was exhausted from the mental concentration required for levitating and she eventually drifted off to sleep. About two hours later, she woke up from her nap slightly dazed. Walking around for a bit and sorting out some shulker boxes helped to clear her head before she sat down to figure out what to do next. Hanging out with Joe had been a lot of fun, but what else could she do to find herself? Her gaze slowly drifted to her ender chest and the corners of her mouth turned upwards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reaching inside, False pulled out a shulker box that she hadn’t touched in quite a while. The items in it were very old and dear to her. One by one, she removed the objects from the box and laid them out next to her: a utility belt, a set of different-sized knives, a sword in its decorative sheath, her favorite bow, a quiver of arrows, and a mask. She clipped the utility belt around her waist, set the weapons in their designated spots, slung the quiver over her shoulder, and carefully slipped the mask onto her face. Closing her eyes, the scent of the mask felt like a comfortable blanket and she breathed in and out. In and out. In and out.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I am FalseSymmetry, queen of heads, hearts, and body parts. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiled peacefully; this is what it was like to find yourself.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  <span>“Breathe. Come on, just breathe. It’s okay, things are okay. Just have to breathe.” Doc was trying his absolute hardest not to get up and take a trident to the monitors that sat in front of him. He knew that destroying them would just make everything worse, so he tried to distract himself by focusing on his breath. In and out. In and out. In and out. Slowly, it returned to a normal, calm pace instead of his frustrated hyperventilating from before. Finally, he allowed himself to think about his task at hand again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doc had been sitting at Xisuma’s admin console for nearly a whole day, attempting to recover a backup of Wels’ user file. It had taken him and Xisuma both four hours just to find the stupid file, much less open it. After another painful, unproductive hour of working, Doc had forced Xisuma to take a break and a nap. The admin had resisted him a bit, saying that he had already had a full day of vacation, but Doc knew that he hadn’t actually been resting. The deeply-imprinted dark lines under Xisuma’s eyes had betrayed him and Doc had held firm; he wasn’t going to let Xisuma overwork himself and crash again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma was now quietly sleeping in the back of the room on some blankets under a table. It didn’t look very comfortable, but Doc was just happy that Xisuma was sleeping. Wearily running his fingers through his hair, Doc wondered if he should take a break as well. On one hand, he hadn’t stopped working in about 7 hours except to eat a sandwich for a few minutes. He wasn’t terribly tired, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to get some rest. On the other hand, this file had made him so mad that he just wanted to go after it and attack it until he finally fixed the problem. After a moment of contemplation, he decided to keep working.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The problem was that this backup file that he was tangling with was very old. Normally, Xisuma would update the backup file for every hermit once a week. This made it very easy to restore a player to their previous version in case of a glitch or bug, which Xisuma had done a few times before. Unfortunately, Wels’ backup hadn’t been updated in over 8 months and the two files looked very different. The backup had been hidden terribly far in Xisuma’s filing system, which was organized in a way that only Xisuma understood; Doc thought it was something that a drunk monkey would put together, but he had refrained from expressing that thought out loud. Additionally, the file seemed to have “rotted” while it was neglected and it was deleting itself as Doc carefully tried to pry anything out of there that he could. It didn’t help that neither he nor Xisuma had ever had a situation like this before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All of this compounded together was enough to make him almost want to give up on the task altogether. However, he didn’t, because of False. She had been terribly wronged and he needed to make it right. Doc didn’t know if he could salvage everything, but at this point, getting anything back would be a victory. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mind was so distracted by this train of thought that Doc didn’t notice the new person in the room until it was too late. He hadn’t heard them enter or sneak up behind his chair or press a knife to his throat. He only noticed that last one when the blade bit into his skin. It was only a small prick but he still let out a whine from the pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I’m sorry. Did that hurt?” The voice was dripping with sarcasm and Doc instantly recognized it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you doing this, Falsie?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“I think you already know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do I?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be a smartass. Take your hands off of the keyboard. Now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doc begrudgingly did so, but he kept them away from the intruder; he could get out of this mess, but not with his hands tied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. I’m not touching it. Just chill.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, I want you to tell me why.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you hear me the first time? Tell me why you hurt me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glancing up at the stationary screens, Doc calmly breathed in and out. He knew that False would accuse him of the memories getting deleted in the first place. He had been expecting that, really, but he wasn’t going to tell her anything. In her current state, that information could be very dangerous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m listening…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looping his thoughts back around to the present moment, Doc closed his eyes, took in one last breath, and acted. In one swift motion, he kicked the chair back, surprising False and sending her stumbling back a bit. Doc ducked just in time to miss her blade aimed for his neck and spun around, drawing his sword. She gritted her teeth and glared at him, swapping her knife out for a sword as well. The two circled the small room, neither really wanting to make the first move.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you want a duel, Falsie, it’s gotta be a fair fight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me teach you something, jerk: life isn’t fair.” The words spat out of her mouth with a viciousness Doc had never seen in her. He struggled to keep his fear from visibly showing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So do you want to fight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hell yes, you monster.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With that, False’s blade lunged towards his chest and Doc knocked it away. They continued this pattern for a while, as Doc didn’t really want to hurt False. However, she was hell-bent on killing him and he needed to protect himself. Dancing around the room, their swords clashed fiercely against each other in a fight to the death. False almost trapped him in a corner, but Doc expertly escaped through the room’s only door and flew fast away. He didn’t even have to turn around to know that False was right on his tail, but leaving the small room would give him more of a fighting chance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, the battle was not of blades but of wings as False furiously chased Doc all over the world. They zoomed over every biome and nearly every base, but they never stopped to rest. False was too angry and Doc knew that even slowing down would be fatal. Unfortunately, Doc didn’t see a cliffside fast enough and it was too late to shift his flight pattern. Slamming into the rock, the wind was completely knocked out of him and he tumbled down the cliff, landing harshly at the bottom in a pile of gravel. He sputtered, gasping for air as he dug his way out of the pebbles, only to see False grinning victoriously over top of him. Just as he brushed the last of the rocks off of his legs, she pinned him to the ground with her boot, casually knocked his sword away, and pointed her own right at his heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, now. I think you can’t just run away from a conversation like that.” The glint in her eyes was pure evil and it shook Doc down to his core. Now that he was completely helpless and certain to die to this almost-possessed False, he found himself unable to speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tell. Me. Why.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trembling, Doc still couldn’t answer her. He couldn’t tell her what had happened, but he couldn’t explain why either. All he could do was bite his tongue as her sword lightly trailed it’s way up his neck and pricked his skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just tell me why and it’ll stop.” False didn’t appear to accept his pained cries as answers and she continued the torture, slowly biting the sword in deeper and deeper. Still, he refused to say anything. Her reaction would only make this worse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just as Doc was about to seriously contemplate giving in to her demands, the blade, laced with blood, was torn away. He dared to peek open his eyes and before him stood a man. He couldn’t tell who it was, but he instantly recognized the breathless voice that accompanied it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No! Please, stop! You can’t do this to him!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  
  <span>“Oh, and why not?” False had appeared to be mildly shocked by the new presence, but she had fully recovered from the surprise and cackled as she spat the words at the man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because it’s not his fault! It’s...it’s mine.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, my lovely readers. We need to have a chat. </p><p>First, how are you enjoying the story? Also, how much would you hate me if I left you on this cliffhanger for five weeks?</p><p>Well, that’s what I’m actually doing. I announced earlier today that I will be leaving my fan-fiction platforms until November 10. The last 6 chapters of this story will be posted on that date. Until then, I will not publish, open, or check anything on Wattpad or Ao3. I need to limit my screen time and get away from online talk about politics for a while, plus these sites are becoming very addictive for me. Truly, this fast is for the best. </p><p>Until I see you again, goodbye my lovely, dear readers! Have a fantastic day!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 16 (???/Xisuma)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The cliffhanger is resolved.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All I’m going to say is… I’m sorry (not sorry).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He had only been over at the community gravel mine because he needed more concrete. That was all that he had been there for. He hadn’t come for his darkest secret to be spilled, but it happened anyway. </p><p>
  <span>It had started when he was almost done with his second shulker box. He only needed three of them, so the job had gone relatively fast. That was when he heard the first sound: the smack. Jerking his head around, he could see two people, one that had crashed straight into the cliffside and was falling down to the ground quite fast, and the other circling like a vulture overhead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The scene hadn’t given him a good feeling, so he had hid behind a closer hill to the two players to observe what was going on. Doc was slowly emerging from the pile of gravel that he had landed in and False unmercifully pinned him down the second he was free. He watched in horror as she began to taunt him and hold her sword tight against his throat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The scene was so awful that he was completely frozen and unable to do anything. Eventually, a muffled cry from Doc broke him out of the trance, and he knew that he had to do something. His secret would be gone forever and he would be exposing himself to False’s anger, but he couldn’t let Doc die for the man’s own sins. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a strangled cry, he leaped out from behind the hill and planted himself in between False and Doc. Panting breathlessly, he knocked the blade away from the cyborg’s neck and False’s face shifted from slight surprise to the evil glare that had been residing there for the last few minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No! Please, stop! You can’t do this to him!” the man cried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, and why not?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because it’s not his fault! It’s...it’s mine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False completely froze and her jaw dropped down to the ground. She didn’t breathe or blink for several moments, either, and the man was tempted to check to see if she was still conscious. Soon, a solitary tear fell out of her eye and her look shifted into the horrid feeling of betrayal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Impulse?</span>
  </em>
  <span> How could you do this to me?” Her words came out shaky and laced with sorrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry. I-I-I-” Finally, False’s expression returned back to her previous rage, even stronger than before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up. You don’t deserve mercy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Impulse quietly admitted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?” Even more tears streaked down her face and Impulse had no idea what to say, so he remained silent. A few moments later, False raised her sword and plunged it through Impulse’s chest. The searing pain lingered for a moment before Impulse appeared in the bed that he’d last slept in. Unfortunately, that bed was only twenty feet away from a rabid False. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sprinted over to him before he could move a muscle and she sliced her sword through him again. Her raw screams were just as painful as the cuts she was making on him and he cried in agony as she continued to spawn-kill him.</span>
</p><p>—————</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma sighed as he righted the chair that was haphazardly laying on the floor. He had no clue why Doc would have knocked over the chair like that, just like he had no clue where Doc was right now. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He probably took a break and just forgot to leave a note</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he assumed. That made sense. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>By his own calculations, Xisuma had slept for about 7 hours under the table and he hoped that Doc hadn’t worked that whole time. Tired people make more mistakes and after a good rest, Xisuma was feeling quite refreshed and ready to tackle the stubborn file once more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sitting down at the console, he only had a moment to relax before a loud ding alerted him about a message in the chat. Xisuma briefly glanced at it, then took a second, harder look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermits didn’t often kill each other, but sometimes a prank would involve death at the end. However, knowing False’s current circumstances and seeing the name of her weapon made him worry. To make it worse, another message popped up a few seconds later.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Five seconds later, it appeared again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Xisuma quickly found False’s coordinates and fumbled with the camera displays on the monitors. Honing in on the community gravel mine, the situation was not good. False was spawn-killing Impulse, and Xisuma stared at it in horror for a few moments. The rapidly overlapping dings from the chat confirmed that everyone else was suspicious, too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[ZombieCleo] </b>
  <span>what’s going on?</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[cubfan135]</b>
  <span> thsi isn’t good</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[GoodTimeWithScar] </b>
  <span>uh oh</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[MumboJumbo] </b>
  <span>where are they?</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[MumboJumbo] </b>
  <span>x, are you awake?</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[impulseSV was slain by falsesymmetry using </b>
  <b>
    <em>Revenge</em>
  </b>
  <b>]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[xisumavoid] </b>
  <span>teleporting out there right now</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Xisuma turned his attention away from the panicking group chat to entering the correct coordinates into his teleportation device. In an instant, he was there next to the bed where Impulse was getting attacked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Using all of his weight, Xisuma took advantage of the element of surprise and pushed False to the ground, disarming her before she had a chance to react. Next, he quickly opened up his communicator on his visor screen, which was buzzing furiously. Thankfully, the speak-to-type feature was enabled, as his hands weren’t free to tap out a message that he had things at least somewhat under control.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[xisumavoid] </b>
  <span>i need iskall and cleo right now. Please bring weapons and that knockout potion you have, cleo and healing potions too</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[iskall85] </b>
  <span>where are we going?</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[xisumavoid] </b>
  <span>community gravel mine</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[iskall85] </b>
  <span>got it. Omw</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[ZombieCleo] </b>
  <span>Coming.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?!?” False was trying to escape Xisuma’s grasp but he held her tightly down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are not going anywhere,” he firmly answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me go!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. Right now, you are a danger to others and it’s my duty to protect everyone else from you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False continued screaming at Xisuma until Iskall and Cleo arrived. Xisuma motioned to the bottle in Cleo’s hand and she quickly handed him the knockout potion that he had requested. He carefully poured the liquid into her mouth and coaxed her to swallow it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made several strangled noises before her eyes fluttered closed and she stopped struggling. Xisuma sighed with relief and turned to look at the two wide-eyed hermits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for coming. This is… stressful, to say the least.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What in the freaking world is happening right now?” Iskall was the first of the two to be able to get words out. Before Xisuma could answer him, they all heard Impulse whimpering in pain and Doc groaning in an effort to sit up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not entirely sure, but we need to take care of them first. Cleo, do you have any more potions on you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y-y-yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll work on Doc, you help Impulse here. Iskall, please bring False to my base. You know where the temporary containment cell is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t you show that to me a few weeks ago?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes. Do you remember where it is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think so,” the cyborg shakily replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good. Get her there as fast as you can. I don’t know how long she’ll be subdued for. Once you get there, get Grian and Scar to help you build a more permanent confinement room. I’ll help you as soon as I can. Now go,” Xisuma ordered, his words starting to run together as the adrenaline began to catch up to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, sir.” Iskall scooped up the unconscious False in his arms and took off towards the jungle. Cleo shakily handed Xisuma a few healing potions and the admin ran over to Doc, who was trying and failing to get up from the ground..</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shh. Don’t move. It will hurt more if you do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After guiding the potions down Doc’s throat, Xisuma moved on to wrapping the open wounds with bandages. A few minutes later, the admin cautiously teleported all four of them out to Stress’ base. Xisuma had notified her about the situation in a private message, so she was already waiting for them. She helped get the two wounded hermits settled in her temporary hospital before shooing Xisuma and Cleo away so that she could work. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two stopped in front of a tree, where Xisuma plopped down, completely exhausted. Unsteadily, he removed his helmet, buried his face in his hands, and started to cry. The reality of the situation was finally settling in and it was too overwhelming to ignore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>False had gone completely mad, two of his hermits were badly hurt, and where had he been? Asleep! He had slept through the whole damn thing and because of him, Doc was severely injured and Impulse had been unmercifully killed. It was all his fault. The sobs shook his whole body as he mentally tore himself apart. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>If I was a better admin, this never would have happened. If I wasn’t asleep, I could have prevented it. If I-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, X?” Cleo’s tone was gentle and kind as she lightly placed her hands on his shoulders. “Why are you crying?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because, because it’s my fault! If I hadn’t been sleeping, I could have stopped her sooner,” Xisuma choked out. “Look at this mess! I slept through it! If I were a good admin, I would have prevented this from happening. It’s my fault-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.” Now, her voice was strong and resolved. “Listen to me. It is not your fault.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is not your fault. Did you stab Impulse?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, no, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you physically hurt Doc?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, b-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then why is it your fault?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could have stopped False! I should have stopped False!” he cried, hot tears rolling down his cheeks.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“X, it’s okay,” Cleo gently responded</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not okay,” he whimpered, on the verge of adding more before the woman forcefully interrupted him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not your freaking fault, alright!” Xisuma was stunned into relative silence for a few moments before Cleo continued to lecture at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You did not physically hurt anyone. You did the absolute best that you could. You saved Doc from dying. You saved Impulse from more death. You saved False from herself. It is not your fault that they are hurt! It’s because of you that they are now safe!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma wearily lifted his head a bit to meet Cleo’s emerald green eyes. After a moment, his lip began to quiver and more tears streamed down his face. The woman’s expression softened and she wrapped her arms around the admin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, it’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No words wanted to come out of Xisuma and he soon gave up trying, instead just melting into Cleo’s reassuring embrace as he sobbed. The two hermits stayed like that for a long while, mostly alone in the enormous jungle.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 17 (False/Impulse)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Two boxes, two people, two wells of guilt and shame.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First of all, were you expecting it to be Impulse? My brother was 1000% convinced it was Doc, so reading Chapter 16 to him was a lot of fun. Second, I didn't intentionally ship Xisuma and Cleo last chapter, but if you want to read it that way, I don't care. Finally, I also am not intentionally shipping Tango and Impulse in this chapter, but I don't care if you read it that way. I'm going to highly recommend the authors Duchess_Of_Dumpsters and AbschaumNo1 on Ao3 if you like that ship, though.</p><p>TW for non-explicit starvation.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything was white. The walls, the floors, the ceiling, and her mind. There was no way to tell where the room began and where it ended. The only way that she knew the floor was even there was because she was laying on it. The floor by itself was very cold. Over the past few days, it had warmed up slightly, but it still chilled her a bit.</p><p>Of course, she could have just been dreaming that. There was no way to mark the passage of time in a place where there were no clocks and no sun, moon, or stars. Even her internal sense of time abandoned her in the room.</p><p>Initially, she had tried to escape. When she had woken up, she had thrown herself into a blind rage trying to find an exit. However, she soon discovered that there wasn't one.</p><p>She had thought about trying to find the walls of the room, but the blankness of the white overwhelmed her and kept her trapped in an odd way against the one wall she knew existed. At this particular wall, there was a small ledge of white concrete raised up from the rest of the floor. Resting on top was a white bed and a chest. Inside was a good supply of food and a note, signed by Xisuma.</p><p>
  <em>I'm sorry, but we had to put you in here to protect everyone else. There should be plenty of food for you here. We will watch over you and bring you out when the time is right.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-Xisuma</em>
</p><p>The last, cryptic sentence had puzzled her and reduced her to tears. There was no way to tell the time in here, but she felt unanchored not knowing how long until she could leave. To her, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. It was just a cold, dark tunnel. Even though the white was brilliant and blinding, it still felt very dark. Perhaps if the others would not give her a light, then she would have to wait for a train.</p><p>So she did. At the beginning of her time in the room, she sometimes ate, but after a while, she gave up on it. It seemed pointless and the constant hunger that resided in her now was almost comforting, in a way. Even though it prevented her from leaving her bed or getting up from the floor, what else was she going to do?</p><p>At first, she had spent lots of time sobbing as she remembered why she was in the room and what she had done, but after a while, she gave up on it. The intense anger shifted into overwhelming guilt, then to an odd sense of calm. They had truly given up on her and wouldn't listen to her cries, she thought. If they were really watching to see if she had changed, they would have heard her already and said something. Why hold out hope any longer?<br/>
Soon, the only thing she did was lay on the floor, thinking about nothing. She didn't know if she was living or dying, but she did know that no one was coming to save her. That was fine. She deserved to be here, after all. The white surrounded her and kept her paralyzed, and she smiled as it slowly faded to a complete and utter black.</p><p>----------</p><p>Everything was black. The picture in his mind was blank and dark. Nothing was there, until something was. The first feeling he had was little stabs of pain peppered throughout his body. He could hear himself whimpering because of it, followed by some footsteps. A warm liquid fell down his throat and soon the pain was gone.</p><p>Some time later, since there was no way to tell how long it was, the black faded away and color entered his vision. It was quite vivid and he squinted trying to comprehend it. Lush greens, pure whites, and brilliant reds revealed themselves, popping against a crystal-like blue that hung over everything. Even more colors appeared and they all moved as well. His head hurt attempting to process the movement and he closed his eyes again to return to the safety of the black. Eventually, though, he got used to the colors.</p><p>The next thing to come back was his voice. Someone else was in the room he was in and occasionally sat down next to him. Sometimes, they gave him food or water or that warm liquid that took away his pain. Other times, they fiddled with the bandages that covered him in so many spots. Every once in a while, they would just sit and talk with him. For a while, they were one-sided conversations, but eventually he learned to respond. The woman, who called herself Stress, was so happy when he talked. She had more words than him, but even his hoarse, creaky voice made her ecstatic.</p><p>Finally, the memories started to come back. Stress told him about many of them and that he was probably locking them away because of the trauma he had suffered. It didn't take long for him to be able to recognize the other people that came by and he was mildly embarrassed that he had temporarily forgotten them. It took a while to coax the other memories out, however. Those were the ones where someone was stabbing a dagger right through him, over and over again, and his blood was gushing out of him, and he couldn't move or do anything about it. They sounded like scenes from a horror movie or terrible nightmares, but they were memories: his memories.</p><p>One morning, a person entered the room and chatted with Stress for a while. Their hushed tones gave him the feeling that something was wrong, but just as he was about to ask, the two walked over to his bed.</p><p>"Impulse, dear, Tango is here to see you and talk to you. Is that okay?"</p><p>"Yeah," he quietly answered, the early hour not kind on his already hurting voice.</p><p>"Alright! You two have a nice chat. I'm going to go take a nap. Wake me up if you need anything."</p><p>Stress bounced out the door and Tango gently sat down in a chair. His face was awash with concern barely masked by a soft smile. The blonde's hand laid next to Impulse's on the bedsheets and Impulse smiled back at Tango as he wrapped his fingers around his friend's warm palm.</p><p>"Hey, Impulse."</p><p>"Hello, Tango," Impulse croaked out.</p><p>"I'm glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?"</p><p>"I've been better."</p><p>"Heh. I suppose that's true," Tango briefly chuckled, staring off into space for a few moments before speaking again.</p><p>"So, everyone's been really worried about you."</p><p>"Be honest: did Xisuma send you here because he knew I would talk to you?" Impulse narrowed his eyes a bit, turning Tango's grin rather sheepish.</p><p>"Maybe..."</p><p>"That's what I thought," Impulse sighed.</p><p>"...but I still want to catch up with you, because you're my friend!" Tango added.</p><p>"Is there anything you don't already know?"</p><p>"Actually, we don't know anything about what happened except for Xisuma's limited knowledge," the blonde admitted, that coming as a bit of surprise to Impulse. "He said that he had been sleeping at the admin consoles and when he woke up, he saw your death messages in chat. He located you, turned on the cameras to see False spawn-killing you, and teleported out. Then, he tackled and knocked out False and Iskall took her to a cell. Xisuma and Cleo helped bring you and Doc here and Stress has been taking care of you guys for the last few days."</p><p>"Oh right, Doc's here too."</p><p>Both men quickly glanced over to the other side of the room where Doc was sleeping deeply in a bed.</p><p>"So that's <em>all</em> you guys know?" Impulse quietly asked.<br/>
"Well, False is in solitary confinement and Doc has refused to tell anyone what happened. Stress is trying to work her therapy magic on him, but he's been very stubborn, so we've been waiting for you to get strong enough to speak again."</p><p>"Oh. Actually, I think I have a few questions for you."</p><p>"Fire away."</p><p>"How long have I been here for?"</p><p>"It's been six days. According to Stress, you first opened your eyes two days ago and you first spoke yesterday. She finally allowed Xisuma to send me over to talk to you today."</p><p>"Wow. I didn't realize I'd been out for that long."</p><p>Looking into Tango's eyes, Impulse noticed that they were focused on the floor and damp with tears.</p><p>"Although, we honestly thought that you weren't going to make it. Xisuma was such a wreck over you because he couldn't fix you and we thought... well, we thought that you were going to die. But not-" Tango couldn't finish his sentence and Impulse squeezed his hand.</p><p>"Hey, it's okay. I'm alive right now. At least, I think I am."</p><p>Tango weakly smiled and cleared any hint of tears off of his face.</p><p>"Yeah. It's good. We're all good now." The redstoner took a deep breath before continuing. "Any other questions?"</p><p>"Annoyingly enough, I kind of forget the rest, so why don't you ask me something?"</p><p>"Alright. I guess what everyone really wants to know is why False was spawn-killing you. I mean, I've built my share of deadly traps, but spawn-killing is very wrong and Xisuma describing her expression was, well, kind of chilling."</p><p>Impulse shuddered as he recalled that haunted expression, all his fault.</p><p>"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it yet," Tango quickly added. "I'm sure that it must have been very traumatic for you and I understand if you want to stay away from that."</p><p>"No, I should tell somebody. You all deserve an explanation, especially False. It's just... hard to talk about still. Let me try, though." Impulse closed his eyes and breathed before starting his story.</p><p>"So, I was at the community gravel mine because I needed more concrete powder. I was over halfway done when I heard a loud crash. I turned around and saw someone crash into a cliff nearby. They fell down the side of it pretty hard and landed in the gravel pile at the bottom. Another person was circling overhead and I thought that was kind of odd, so I got a bit closer. At that distance, I could tell that it was Doc getting up from the gravel and False following him behind. As soon as he got up, False stepped on him and pinned him down.</p><p>"Then, she was...she was taunting him and pressing that knife... and I could hear him so close to the breaking point, and eventually I couldn't take it anymore because I knew why she was so mad at him, and I just couldn't..." Impulse couldn't look at Tango any longer and shifted his gaze to the ceiling, still trembling.</p><p>"I ran out there in between them and I told her to stop, but then she got mad at me. I woke up in the bed when I respawned, but I had slept in the gravel mine and she ran over to me and... well, I think you know the rest."<br/>
Tango seemed shocked at the information, but quickly rushed to comfort Impulse as tears started to streak down the injured man's face.</p><p>"Oh my... I am so sorry. Oh my goodness."</p><p>The two men stayed stationery, stunned into silence, for several minutes.</p><p>"I'm totally fine if that's all you're comfortable sharing, but I just am curious: why did False get so mad at you after you defended Doc?" Tango cautiously questioned. "I mean, I know that she was mad, but why that, that... I don't know. Rage, I guess?"</p><p>"Oh, yeah." Impulse nervously rubbed his arm before sneaking a glance at Tango. There was no malice, anger, or hurt in his friend's eyes. If he told him the truth, there would be, but Impulse couldn't keep it secret much longer. Besides, False had probably told everyone already.</p><p>"Just wondering: has False said anything at all?"</p><p>"No..."</p><p>"Oh. Um, can you keep a secret?"</p><p>"I-I suppose." Tango was biting his lip in a rather disconcerting manner, but Impulse decided to push ahead anyway.</p><p>"I don't know exactly how to phrase this, but I... I told False the horrible truth. I wish I was lying, but... I was the one who deleted Wels' memories."</p><p>"WHAT?!?" Tango reeled back, his eyes wide and jaw dropped to the floor.</p><p>"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt her like that. I didn't, I don't, I-I-I..." Coherent thoughts were blocked by a steady stream of tears and Impulse pulled himself into a ball, trying to hide from everyone.</p><p>He shouldn't have told Tango and he should have known that this would happen if he did. Tango would take him to Xisuma, who would be so utterly disappointed in Impulse. He would get banned from the world, his friends turned into his enemies, and he would be cast into the abyss where banished players lived out the remainder of their horrid existence. No excuses would be accepted, as he was clearly in the wrong. The guilt would eat him alive forever with no chance of redemption.</p><p>Impulse's entire body shook with sobs as the scenes played out in his head. After a while, Tango's arms wrapped around him and Impulse was terrified, not daring to look at Tango's face, just knowing that it would be full of hurt and anger.</p><p>Instead of picking him up and taking him straight to Xisuma, though, he just stayed there, quietly rubbing Impulse's back and enveloping him in a blanket of undeserved kindness. He cried harder because of that and a long time passed before he could speak again, even though it was only a faint whisper.</p><p>"Why are you doing this? I don't deserve it."</p><p>"Impy, I don't fully understand how I feel right now," Tango softly sighed, "but hatred isn't what it is. What you did wasn't right, but I don't <em>hate</em> you for it. I'm sorry if I came across that way. I was just initially quite surprised."</p><p>"You don't hate me?"</p><p>"No. Not at all."</p><p>A hint of smile appeared on Impulse's face and remained there for several minutes before Tango gently let him go.</p><p>"Now, I do have to ask," the redstoner began more seriously, "why did you do it?"</p><p>"Fair enough. Do you remember when I first heard False scream?"</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"When you told me about her situation, I'd never heard about it before and when we went over there, seeing her so broken just, I guess, broke me. I thought back to all of the encounters I'd had with her, and my heart kept breaking when I realized how much she was dying without Wels. We had helped Doc and Xisuma with the file situation, so I knew how to edit the file. and Xisuma had given me his password so long ago, and I thought that maybe I could help. Immediately after I did it, I regretted it, but I hoped that maybe it would turn out okay. I just didn't realize that it would break False even more to have only a part of Wels come back.</p><p>"That was just... awful to see and I decided that I could never tell her. Then, at the gravel mine, she was blaming Doc for all of it, and I broke there. I couldn't let her kill him for what I had done, so I ran over there and confessed to her. Not any of the reasoning, because she killed me before I could explain, but... I don't know. I suppose that this doesn't make up for any of it."</p><p>Impulse paused to look up at Tango. He couldn't read his face, so he shakily continued.</p><p>"So, are you going to take me to Xisuma now and get me banned?"</p><p>"What?" Tango shifted backwards once again, though not as strongly as the first shock Impulse had delivered to him.</p><p>"If you're going to ban me, just get it over with as fast as possible," he replied.</p><p>"Why would we ban you?" The redstoner's tone was so bewildered at the perfectly logical conclusion Impulse had found that it made him nervous.</p><p>"I hurt so many people! There's nothing that I could do to make up for what I did, aside from restoring his memories. I don't even know if that's possible or if that would make anything right, though," Impulse added.</p><p>"I-I mean, you do have a point, but I happen to think that banishment is a bit of a harsh punishment," Tango finally sputtered out.</p><p>"Then what should I do?"</p><p>"I think that you do need to tell Xisuma at some point," Impulse groaned at that thought, "but I will come with you. I also think that you should explain this in person to Doc and apologize to False and Wels. False probably won't forgive you for a while, but an apology is the first step towards healing for both of you."</p><p>"Okay. That makes sense, I guess."</p><p>"You don't have to go over there today if you're not feeling up to it."</p><p>"No, I think I need to before I convince myself otherwise. But, can I maybe talk to False on a different day?"</p><p>"Totally. I'll message everybody else to meet in this hospital tent as soon as possible."</p><p>Tango quickly tapped out a message and Impulse's communicator buzzed on his wrist.</p><p> </p><p><b>[TangoTek] </b>x and wels, please come to stress's base asap for a meeting. Stress, can you wake up Doc please?</p><p><b></b><b>[xisumavoid] </b>coming now</p><p><b></b><b>[Welsknight] </b>It'll be two minutes.</p><p><b></b><b>[Stressmonster101] </b>just heading your way :)</p><p> </p><p><b></b>Impulse smiled gratefully at Tango and scrambled up to a sitting position in his bed. Now, he just had to wait for everyone else to come. He could only hope that they would be as understanding and kind as Tango had. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm just going to say this now because if I don't, I'll forget about it. You might think that others are responding False and Impulse not quite realistically. Perhaps you think that the characters should probably react in a different way. First, I respect your opinion, no matter what it is. Second, this is my story and I wrote it however I wanted. Plus, when a character confesses romantic feelings in this fandom, 99% of the time they are reciprocated. I don't mind it, but really, you can't play the "not realistic" card.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 18 (Wels)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Explanations and revelations, most of a negative variety</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>See if you can spot my favorite line in this entire story in this chapter. Hint: my response out loud after I wrote it was “Gee, you think?”</p><p>TW for non-explicit starvation.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The thick, humid air enveloped Wels’ body as he flew over the jungle, alerting him to the transition between biomes. He scanned the treetops, trying to recall where Stress’ base was and what it looked like. The bright pink roofs and giant glass rainbow were a dead giveaway and he carefully landed next to the giant skull. Stress was waiting for him and led him to the small hospital she had set up outside. Opening the door, Wels could see that he was the last to arrive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On one wall, Doc sat in a large armchair, looking grumpy and a bit sleepy. Xisuma was sitting in another armchair next to Doc, quietly conversing with the cyborg. On the other wall, Impulse sat up in a bed, clutching Tango’s hand, who was sitting in yet another chair. All of them looked up and stared at Wels as he cautiously entered the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi. Sorry that I’m a bit late. It took me a while to get to a stopping point on my build.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, that’s just fine,” Xisuma reassured him, motioning to a chair. “Why don’t you sit down?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels silently accepted the invitation, sitting politely with his back straight. From behind came Stress’ voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you like me to stay? If you don’t need me here, I have a few projects to work on.” Xisuma glanced over at Impulse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, you can go do that stuff, Stress. We’ll be okay,” Impulse replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright! See you guys later!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stress skipped out the door and carefully shut it as she left. There was an awkward pause for a few moments before Doc spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So why do we have to all be here, Xisuma?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Actually, I didn’t call this meeting. Tango did.” All eyes swung over to Tango.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I just sent the message. Impulse is the one who wanted the meeting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, um, yeah.” Impulse squirmed a bit as everyone stared at him. “I called this meeting because I have some important things to discuss. I’ve been told by Tango that what everyone wants to know is why False was... well, killing me. I know that Doc, you probably have more to add to my perspective, but I don’t want to make you share anything you don’t want to.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I still don’t want to talk about it. Sounds like you’re going to explain everything, anyway,” the cyborg answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, then.” Impulse bit his lip as Wels waited patiently for him to continue. When the death messages had been buzzing constantly in his communicator the previous week, he had been working on some interior decorating at his house. He had been forced to stop and stare at the panicked conversation going on between the hermits as he tried to determine why in the world False would be doing this. With Doc refusing to speak, Impulse still unconscious, and False locked away, he had been in the dark as much as everybody else. Now, it appeared that he would get some answers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, I was at the community gravel mine to get some gravel for concrete powder. While I was working, I heard Doc crash into a cliff and I saw False behind him. She was… mad. She was completely crazy and I couldn’t move. It was… just too much,” Impulse shakily explained, taking a deep breath before finishing out his story.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I eventually snapped out of it and I stepped between them. She got really mad at me and since my spawn was in the gravel mine, she started spawn-killing me. Xisuma saved me fairly quickly, but it was still…” Impulse’s voice trailed off and Wels stared at him in horror. Why would False have done this? When he had last seen her, she was bubbly and friendly. How had she gone so insane as to kill and torture other hermits? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I appreciate any information, but I still have a lot of questions,” Xisuma cautiously spoke up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I expected that,” Impulse grimaced.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Man, why are you explaining this to me? I already know all of this. I mean, I know that Xisuma and Wels don’t, but why am </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> here?” Doc blurted out the words that Wels could tell had been on the tip of his tongue for a while.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s fair. Xisuma and Wels, I’m here to explain to you what happened. Wels and Doc, I need to apologize to you.” Wels noted that Impulse’s eyes shifted their focus to the floor and started to cloud over. “So what was your question, X?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did she get so mad at you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, well…” Tango squeezed Impulse’s hand reassuringly as a few tears fell onto the bedsheets and Impulse looked straight at Wels. “I asked her to stop because she thought that Doc had deleted your memories, Wels. I couldn’t let False kill him for something he hadn’t done. The problem was that, well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> did it.” Impulse’s voice was already quiet, but it dropped several volume levels as he finished his thought. “I deleted your memories. I’m so sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The entire room went completely silent and frozen except for Impulse’s gentle sobs. Tango looked hurt, but not nearly as pained as Xisuma. It was hard to tell with the helmet on, but Xisuma was like a deer in headlights and completely speechless for once. Doc’s jaw was dropped several inches and his human eye was open wide. Wels stared at Impulse, not knowing what to think. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So many emotions cycled through him; anger, betrayal, and hurt were the first. Now he understood why False had killed Impulse so many times. Impulse had deliberately taken away the memories of her best friend, and that realization shook Wels to his core. How could this man have stooped to such a low level? What wicked reasoning was behind his horrid actions?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, once the initial shock had worn off, Wels realized that Impulse was terrified. The man was collapsed into himself and shaking right then, and he was obviously very remorseful. A small part of Wels wanted to murder Impulse himself, but most of him knew what the right thing to do was. Slowly and silently, Wels got up from his chair, walked over to the bed, and wrapped his arms around Impulse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think, I-I-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shh. It’s okay.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The gesture seemed to have broken the freeze that hung over the room, but everyone else remained silent and let Impulse finish crying with Wels gently hugging him. Several minutes later, Impulse finally spoke, still looking down at the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am so sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay. I accept your apology,” the knight soothingly responded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes. It might take a while for me to fully forgive you, but I don’t want to see you destroying yourself over this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I, thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels stepped back and smiled at Impulse as he returned to his seat. Now, Doc was the one struggling to get out words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m still not entirely sure what’s happening right now, but why are you apologizing to me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I let False hurt you for too long. I was too scared to tell her and I let you take the blame for it,” Impulse whispered, his voice still not terribly steady.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think that you need to apologize for Falsie’s assumptions,” Doc tilted his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I still should have said something sooner,” Impulse replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. I forgive you for that,” Doc said, waving his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it anymore.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone in the room seemed to sense that Tango knew what was going on already, so now the attention was on Xisuma, who was yet to speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, well, this was unexpected,” Xisuma nervously laughed as he glanced around the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you going to ban me?” Impulse’s resigned tone seemed to send Xisuma into a tailspin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ban you? Um, no…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?” His voice wasn’t completely sure, but it sounded slightly less dejected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why would I ban you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I hurt so many people! I hurt everyone in this room and more people outside of it. There’s no excuses for what I did and I deserve banishment.” Wels rapidly switched between staring at Impulse and Xisuma, waiting to see who would speak first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think you do,” the admin slowly began. “See, you’re right: you did hurt a lot of people. However, you’ve acknowledged that what you did was wrong and that there are no excuses for it, and you’ve apologized to several of the people you hurt. That doesn’t sound like a good case for banishment to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” The realization that he was not going to be banned washed over Impulse’s face, transforming his pained expression into a grateful smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will most definitely be changing my password, but I think that apologizing to these people and very likely another serious chat sometime soon is punishment enough for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” Impulse whispered. He seemed to be thinking about something painful, though, and his smile quickly faded. “I suppose I should talk to False soon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone in the room appeared to realize simultaneously that False was still separated from the rest of the group. Wels was the first to get words out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Speaking of that, where is False?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think she’s still in the room that Grian and Scar built in my base,” Xisuma absent-mindedly answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When was the last time that someone checked on her?” Wels was getting concerned by the silent conversation that Xisuma and Doc were having.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought that you did that yesterday,” the cyborg said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, you were supposed to check on the camera feed because you were the one working on the file yesterday.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did check on it yesterday morning. Did you look at it today?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was going to, and then I had to come here…” Xisuma’s voice trailed off as both his and Doc’s faces turned pale.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s going on?” Tango seemed extremely confused at the whole encounter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nobody’s checked on her for over a day and she already wasn’t looking good... Oh God, this is not good.” Doc buried his head in his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well then, why don’t we go check on her </span>
  <em>
    <span>right now?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Wels seemed to be the only one thinking clearly at that point in time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s right, we need to get moving,” the admin sighed before leaping up out of his chair, Doc following him close behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait!” Wels shouted just before the two escaped out the door. “Can I come with you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The admin and the cyborg looked at each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, why not?” Xisuma grabbed Wels’ hand and the knight yelped as all three of them sped outside and up into the air.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A short while later, they crammed into the admin console room and Xisuma and Doc hurriedly brought up the camera feed. Wels could barely hear what they were muttering and he couldn’t see what was on the screen, but it didn’t sound good. After a few moments, Xisuma, wearing a terrified expression, turned around to face Wels.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We have to go. Now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels quietly ran after Xisuma and Doc, who were practically sprinting around Xisuma’s base, until they reached a small building. Inside was an obsidian box, which Xisuma quickly mined a two-block tall hole through. The three hermits ran inside of the box, the interior coated in completely white maps. On the floor, False was laying there, practically white herself, eyes closed and unmoving. Doc knelt down, felt for a pulse, and breathed a quick sigh of relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s not dead. There’s a faint heartbeat there, but we don’t have much time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma headed outside of the box and came back with a shulker box full of supplies that he placed down on the floor. Wels could only watch as Doc, true to his name, took out several potions and poured them expertly in between False’s lips. She still didn’t move or wake up, but Doc said that her pulse and breathing was stronger than before. The three hermits sat back against one of the walls for a moment of rest, still watching her carefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think she’ll live. That was… far too close for comfort.” Doc stared off into space, still breathing quite hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened to her?” Wels was very out of the loop and the lack of information was catching up to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe locking her up in an infinity room for 6 days alone was a bad idea.” Xisuma hadn’t appeared to hear Wels’ question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait a minute.” Doc slowly got up and peered inside the chest that was sitting near one of the walls. “Oh goodness. She almost starved to death.” Xisuma groaned and Wels was even more confused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We left her a full chest of golden carrots and only one of them is gone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No one else spoke and they sat in silence for some time, Wels contemplating what to say next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what are we going to do now?” he finally asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose we’ll have to nurse her back to full health.” Xisuma sounded resigned to the task.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That might take a while, especially because she probably went insane in this box.” Doc didn’t appear to be very optimistic about the situation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll do it.” Both Xisuma and Doc turned to stare at Wels, who had timidly offered his help. “My house actually has an interior now and I’d be happy to care for her there.” Xisuma smiled gratefully, as did Doc. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That would be great,” Xisuma said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, I might still need some help since I don’t know much medical stuff, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about it!” Doc patted Wels’ shoulder. “We’ll teach you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two hermits gave Wels lots of instructions and supplies and Xisuma teleported all of them out to Wels’ house. Together, they got False settled comfortably in a bed and another round of potions and food was administered. Wels thanked Xisuma and Doc for their help, and vice-versa, before they flew away. Now, Wels was left alone to be the one caring for their unconscious friend.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Bleh. Just take it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 19 (Wels/False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thought processes are explained. Motivations are revealed. Pieces of the puzzle click together. (At least I hope so.)</p><p>TW for non-explicit starvation.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Remember that this is the first time that both False and Wels have been awake/conscious during an interaction since Wels ran out of her base after she told him they were dating during season 6. </p><p>The whisky and coffee combo is a small nod to “The Ties That Bind”, which if you haven’t read, you need to. Small references to alcohol because of that, but nothing too graphic. It’s Doc, so nobody gets drunk. </p><p>I wrote the first part in September and the second part in July, so the writing style is probably very different. However, I felt like I needed to add a bit of Doc’s thinking process to make chapter 21 better, so here you go.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Wels yawned wide before taking another large sip of coffee. It was still fairly early in the morning and he always needed a few cups of delicious caffeine to start his day off on a pleasant note. Doc turned out to be the same way and the two of them were working their way through a pot of plain, black coffee. The cyborg had also offered to introduce Wels to his favorite combination of whisky and coffee, but the knight had politely declined. Sometimes, Wels wondered exactly how high Doc’s alcohol tolerance was, though he almost didn’t want to find out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xisuma had headed back to the admin console room to work on the file situation some more. At first, Wels had been worried that Xisuma would overwork himself into insanity, but Cleo had threatened to break the admin’s legs if he didn’t take care of himself, so that wasn’t as much of a concern. Doc was over for the day to help him with False, who still hadn’t moved a bit. The cyborg had explained the previous day that because of the level of starvation she had gotten to, they would have to go slow and be careful with how they treated her. As the two men nursed their mugs of coffee, Wels’ gaze turned to False and a burning question came to mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Doc?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” was the casual reply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you helping me with False?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Wels leaned back in his chair as he tried to come up with a good way to explain what he was asking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, from what Impulse said, she tried to kill you and would have probably succeeded if not for his semi-heroic intervention. So why are you so willing to help me heal her?” The knight genuinely didn’t have an answer to that question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a hard feeling to explain,” the cyborg sighed. “See, she first found me in the admin console room, working on your file. I know that for a long time she’s been nervous and scared around me.” Wels scrunched up his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, sorry. That’s from a memory you don’t have,” he apologetically responded. “I accidentally found out about your relationship when she didn’t want it public last season. For months, she looked like she was on the edge of a panic attack about me telling someone, which I didn’t. I knew right away when we discovered that your memories had been deleted that she would blame me, and I was right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, it took Falsie a long time to warm up to me just in general. When I first came to Hermitcraft, she was terrified of me and it took almost two years to earn her trust. Once that happened, she felt like my sister and I felt a need to protect her. It really hurt to have her turn on me and attack me. It was like she had lost all those years of progress made. But, she has strange loyalties, Falsie does. She is so protective of you that she treated me like she did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Initially, I was incredibly mad at her and I whole-heartedly believed that she deserved the treatment of the Infinity Room. I stewed about it for a while when I was recovering in Stress’ hospital. I really didn’t need to be there for as long as I was, but I was too preoccupied thinking about Falsie. To help out Xisuma, I would watch the camera feed of the Infinity Room sometimes, and I could tell that she was sorry for absolutely everything. It took a few days, but I’m not mad at her anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She was scared, hurting, and broken. Falsie never properly dealt with her emotions about you falling asleep. Instead of working through them, she shoved them away and acted like everything was fine. Now, here we are. I should have been pushier about her going to therapy or something. This is the least that I can do to help her. What she did was very wrong, but… I can’t leave her like this again. I tried that last time, and here we are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doc finished up the last of his cup of coffee in one gulp and cleared his throat. Wels fidgeted with his hands as he contemplated everything that Doc had just said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That kind of makes sense to me,” he finally answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should take it as a compliment that Falsie cares so much about you. Her bond with you is very deep and no matter what happens with your relationship, I’m pretty sure that you two will be close for a long time,” the cyborg added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll have to have a discussion about that,” Wels nodded. “Right now, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about her romantically, but I know that I want to be her friend at the very least.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever happens, we’ll be supportive of you,” Doc patted the knight’s hand. “I’m getting real cheesy right now, but she’s amazing and you better not hurt her or you will regret it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I promise I won’t,” Wels’ expression melted into a warm smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s good. Now, I need some more coffee.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the black slowly faded out of her mind, False briefly thought that she was waking up again in the white room. However, this room wasn’t white. Some parts of the ceiling were, but it wasn’t the brilliant, paralyzing white that the other room had been. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The floor was a nice, homey oak and the bed she was laying in was a comforting blue. She breathed in the atmosphere of the room, and finally noticed that a warm hand was clasped in hers. Her eyes lazily rolled over to see who it belonged to and they widened in surprise when she recognized the person. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning,” they cheerfully grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wels?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello,” was the ticklish answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False tried out several questions before finally settling on, “Am I in heaven?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, no. You’re still alive.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. I wasn’t entirely sure about that.” The statement seemed to have struck a nerve within Wels and he grimaced as he responded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We weren’t entirely sure about that either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s kind of a long story,” he sighed. “Are you hungry?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False now realized that something was missing: she wasn’t hungry any longer. Sure, her stomach did grumble a bit at the mention of food, but the deep ache of starvation was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess. Not as much as before, but yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels pulled a bowl of soup and a glass of water out of a chest and handed it to her on a tray. Bringing herself up to a sitting position, False began to sip the soup, which was a mouthwatering clam chowder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s good. You gave us quite a scare,” Wels quietly spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who is ‘us’?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pretty much everyone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you aware that you almost starved to permanent death?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, kind of,” she sheepishly answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We were all very worried about you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, how long have I been here for?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A whole week.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” The exclamation was spoken with surprising force considering how tired False’s voice was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know. For many of those days, we weren’t entirely sure if you were dead or alive.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is going on?” False whimpered under her breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry. Was that too much at once?” His concerned tone reeled False back into the present moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. There’s just so much stuff floating around in my head and it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not,” she sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want me to leave you alone for a while?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I kind of like having you around.” It was hard for False to explain exactly why with words, but his presence was a nice comfort. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, thanks. Maybe you should just ask questions and I’ll try my best to answer them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright,” she replied, taking in a deep breath. “How did I get here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I was meeting with Xisuma and Doc and a few other people, and we kind of remembered that you were in here.” False rolled her eyes at that. “Yeah, that wasn’t exactly our finest moment. Anyway, when we got over here to check on you, you were unconscious and almost dead. I volunteered to take care of you at my house and they helped me out for a while, but it’s just been you and me for a few days.”</span>
</p><p><span>“Why are you doing this for me?”</span><span><br/>
</span> <span>“What do you mean?”</span></p><p>
  <span>“I don’t deserve any of this. I thought that no one cared and it’s kind of okay because I-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, that’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> okay,” the knight interrupted. “We do care, and we care a lot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But why would you care about me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False was genuinely wondering why Wels, Xisuma, and Doc had bothered to revive her. She had accepted her fate in the box, but they hadn’t for some reason. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re my friend,” he gestured, his face still doubtfully scrunched up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why would you want to be friends with a monster like me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“False, you’re not a monster. It was a mistake-”</span>
</p><p><span>“It was done intentionally!”</span><span><br/>
</span> <span>“Why are you hurting yourself like this?” Wels shouted so forcefully that it scared both of them for a minute. When he spoke again, his tone was slightly quieter, but no less firm. “Honestly, it hurts to listen to you destroying yourself and I have no idea why you are.”</span></p><p>
  <span>“I hurt so many people. How could anyone stand to be around me, much less forgive me?” False’s voice was so quiet that she could barely hear herself. Gently, Wels placed his hands on her shaking shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“False, I’ve heard those words come from another person who hurt people as well. They were comforted and asked to forgive themselves. Once they did, they felt so much better. Do you know who that person was? It was Impulse.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Words stubbornly refused to come out of False’s mouth as her brain tried to wrap itself around Wels’ statement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard him say almost exactly what you did and I watched him as he realized that even though what he did was wrong, we weren’t going to give up on him. What you did was wrong, but we aren’t going to give up on you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tears trickled down False’s cheek as Wels pulled her in for a reassuring hug. Finally, as she was held comfortingly in Wels’ arms, she allowed herself to believe that she could be forgiven. The two gently rocked back and forth for a while, the touch keeping her grounded even as it felt like her whole world was being uprooted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” she finally choked out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay. I forgive you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A tearful smile broke across False’s face and she could feel Wels doing the same. Several minutes later, they slowly pulled apart and False took a deep breath, knowing what she had to do next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wels, I think that I need to go apologize to Impulse and Doc.” He nodded quietly in agreement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a good idea. When do you want to do that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. I don’t even know what I’m going to say to them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay. Words are hard sometimes. Besides, I think that you might need to spend another day or two recovering here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False agreed with that, as she could easily trace out her ribs on her chest. A question still nagged at her and she lowered her head to stare at the half-empty bowl of soup sitting in front of her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, I thought that you were scared of me because you left so suddenly when we last talked.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels appeared to be searching for the memory for a few moments before his face lit up with realization.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh! I remember now. Well, I wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>scared</span>
  </em>
  <span> of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You weren’t?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. I didn’t explain very well why I left, I suppose. I was quite surprised and I couldn’t think for a while. After I left, I went to go talk to Xisuma. I wanted to see if there was anything he could do about my memories,” the knight explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He said that he was already working on it and Doc came by while we were talking and said that he was working on it too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So that explains why Doc was at the screens,” she quietly muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Was that why you were chasing him around?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, yeah, I guess. I didn’t think, I just reacted. God, I made a big mess,” False sighed, rubbing her forehead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you’re not scared of me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. I like being around you a lot, actually,” Wels admitted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. I was so worried that I had scared you away from me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have to worry anymore. Plus, I have some good news.” False perked up at that. “Doc and Xisuma have been working on my file for quite a while and they may have found a way to bring my memories back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my goodness, that’s awesome!” she cheered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know! Anyway, they’ve been having lots of issues and I don’t understand most of their explanations, but what they said was that the world now has the capacity to support my full self again and they just have to add back the memories that got deleted. So, they can add the basic framework in, but they can’t get back the mental images without them being manually triggered. I also don’t understand what most of that means, but basically, I have the base of my memories back. I just have to have some of them recalled.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels scratched his neck, looking down at the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“According to Doc, when somebody tells me the stories that are in my memories of interactions with other players, the rest of the memories should come back. I’d like you to tell me about us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I…” False was absolutely speechless. “I would be happy to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Smiling brightly at the knight, False could believe that the world was right again.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My update schedule for this has been a train wreck, but I now have a plan. Chapter 20 on Tuesday, then chapter 21 on Thursday, then it's done. However... I did write an alternate ending, so I might publish that as extra chapters after the main story is done.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 20 (False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Two reactors are brought together, and the combination isn't as volatile as one would think.</p><p>(I love being cryptic-as-hell in these.)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Almost done! Also, Hermitcraft movie club just made me so happy, so indulge me please.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>False’s feet gently brushed the top of the smooth concrete, right next to where Wels had just landed and was waiting for her. She stumbled a bit from the leftover momentum and Wels gripped her hands in his own to help stabilize her. Breathing a small thank you, she let one of his hands go while clutching the other one tighter than before. To say the least, she was very nervous about this meeting, but the fact that Wels was coming with her helped calm her nerves a bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They had talked with each other for the past two days, remembering and reminiscing over every little memory. False had still been recovering and sometimes she had needed a break to eat a meal or sleep. Wels hadn’t left her side for that time and she was very glad for his company. They hadn’t discussed what their relationship would look like going forward yet, but that was a conversation that False knew they needed to have. For now, Wels had finally gotten a meeting arranged with Impulse and Tango, which was what they were now slowly walking towards, the late afternoon light sending an ominous chill up her spine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soon, False and Wels dropped through the water curtain of Impulse’s base and made their way down to the first floor. Walking quietly, False could hear Impulse and Tango talking to each other, although she couldn’t make out what they were saying. From the direction of their voices, she could tell that they were in the storage room and as she crept closer to the corner of it, her eyes started to fill with tears. Wels squeezed her hand and she took a deep breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want me to keep holding your hand?” he whispered. False nodded before finally stepping out into view. At the sound of their footsteps, Impulse and Tango turned around. Tango was faintly smiling while Impulse looked like a deer in headlights, which False was fairly certain her expression resembled, too. Wels didn’t let the silence stay for long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello there! I’m so glad that we’re all finally able to sit down and chat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, we were really wrapped up in a project and couldn’t meet until now,” Tango apologized.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s totally okay,” the knight reassured him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, since I put some chairs out, why don’t we all actually sit down?” Tango’s gestures seemed to thaw the freeze in the air, although False and Impulse had still said nothing. Once everyone was seated, False still tightly holding Wels’ hand, Tango asked the first question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, are you feeling better, False?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, yes, I suppose,” she mumbled. She could already tell that this would be a hard conversation by the way that she couldn’t seem to look anywhere other than at the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s good. We’re all glad that you’re alive and well.” False could tell that Tango was trying, but the small talk was killing her even more than the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s that big project you’ve been working on?” Wels was the next one to speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re not really close to done, actually, since we’ve basically spent two days breeding and zombificating villagers in preparation for building a trading hall. Man, those guys are annoying.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels and Tango continued to make light conversation, as if they were trying to break the ice between their friends, which False was pretty sure was the point. Briefly glancing at Impulse and awkwardly making eye contact for a tiny moment, she could tell that both of them knew it wasn’t working. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wasn’t even really that mad at Impulse at this point, but the heavy weight of knowing that one of them would have to apologize first was paralyzing. Words stubbornly refused to come out of her mouth in a coherent form and she eventually gave up and decided to wait for Impulse to make the first move. Unfortunately, it looked like they were both playing the same game. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tango fiddling with his wristband communicator behind his back, which she noted but said nothing about. A few seconds later, loud buzzing came from everyone’s communicators.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>&lt;Zedaph&gt; </b>
  <span>wels, tango? I need some help asap</span>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;TangoTek&gt; </b>
  <span>what’s going on?</span>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;Zedaph&gt; </b>
  <span>it’s hard to explain over chat</span>
</p><p>
  <b>&lt;Zedaph&gt; </b>
  <span>can you just come over?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm, that doesn’t sound good,” Tango mused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose we’d better get over there soon,” Wels replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False absently sat still as Wels let go of her hand and stood up to leave with Tango. She and Impulse watched them fly away for a few moments before finally daring to look at each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They so arranged that,” False disapprovingly stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Tango’s had the message ‘activate mission talkificating!’ preloaded on his communicator for hours.” Impulse shook his head and False chuckled before they returned to an uncomfortable silence. Neither of them wanted to go first, False knew, but she finally resolved to say something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry.” Both of them looked at each other, having blurted that thought out simultaneously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jeez. We’re really in sync today or something,” False noted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think either of us really wants to talk, but somebody has to say something, so do you want me to go first?” Impulse idly fiddled with his communicator while speaking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, why not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m just going to say, there’s no reason for you to ever forgive me and you don’t have to. But, I do feel like I need to explain why I, well, deleted his memories. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When I heard you scream that one time and went over to your base, I just saw how broken you were and it hurt like crazy to see you like that. The only thing that I could think about for days was how I could help you. I thought that bringing Wels back would help, but I made an even bigger mess than before. And I was so scared of you when I saw you at that meeting and I knew that you would be mad if I said something. I should have spoken up... but I was too scared. And I let Doc take the fall for it for too long, but out there, I finally decided that I had to tell you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am so incredibly sorry and I regret my decision every day and no amount of apologies will be enough. I just hope that you can understand why I did what I did. It’s no excuse, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please stop.” Her voice was very quiet, but firm, so Impulse stopped talking. “Thank you for telling me this. I understand you and I accept your apology. I don’t quite forgive you, but maybe someday I will. Wels told me to stop hurting myself by telling myself I didn’t deserve mercy, so I’ll pass that on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Impulse gratefully and slightly tearfully smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, I think it’s my turn.” False sighed. “I don’t have even a semi-articulate explanation, but I’m so sorry for killing you. I was hurt, but you didn’t deserve that kind of reaction. I’ve never been like that before and it... honestly scared me. I-I promised myself so many years ago that I would never hurt someone like the way I did to you, and now, well, I’ve become the monster that I swore I wouldn’t be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think you’re a monster.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. Maybe back there you were, but the False sitting in front of me right now isn’t.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I promise, even though I don’t really trust myself anymore, I won’t be that way again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I accept your apology, even though I also don’t yet fully forgive you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And if you ever act that way again, I know we’ll be there to support you.” False could feel tears welling up in her eyes, which she didn’t bother to brush away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This might sound really weird, but I kind of want to hug you right now. Is that okay?” Impulse half-laughed and half-choked back a sob before he got up from his chair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Absolutely.” False reached towards him and the two wrapped their arms around each other. It wasn’t like the perfection and completeness she felt when Wels hugged her, but a feeling of relief washed over her as she realized that she really could leave her guilt behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t hate you,” she whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t, either,” was the reply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They had just pulled out of the hug when someone crashed into her, causing False to yelp in surprise. However, it was only Wels and Tango, coming back from wherever they had been. She nearly fell over laughing, her tears having changed from remorse to an odd sense of peace. In fact, everyone was genuinely laughing and smiling, something that had been missing for the four of them for a while.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, now that we’re not awkwardly staring at each other in creepy silence, who wants to watch a movie?” Tango asked excitedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you thinking?” Impulse raised his eyebrows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How about the Karate Kid?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The original is fine, but if I have to watch any of the sequels…” False left her threat open-ended.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope, just the original!” Tango reassured her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone seemed to be in agreement about the movie choice and the group traveled up to the second floor using the water elevator. False and Wels amusedly watched Impulse and Tango bicker about how to set up their old movie projector, which seemed to be perpetually broken. Once they finally got it to work, Impulse shut all of the lights off and the four of them sat back to enjoy the film. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It brought back a lot of good memories from the previous season when they had all gathered at Tango’s underground base on Friday nights and watched movies. The four of them had created a club of sorts and they had been steadily working through a list. They had stopped meeting when Tango had to take an 8-month trip back to his homeworld and Wels had fallen asleep six months into Tango’s absence. It had been too painful for them to meet in season seven so far, but False was quite happy that they were watching a movie together again. The three men seemed to share that feeling, as evidenced by their smiling faces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All of them had seen “The Karate Kid” multiple times, but False still enjoyed the movie, especially because she was with Wels again. For the first time, really ever, she felt truly free and content with him. She was no longer hurting because he couldn’t remember the past. She was no longer mourning that he was asleep and taken from her. She was no longer ashamed and scared of what everyone else would think about them being around each other, whether platonically or not. Her best friend was back and she couldn’t be happier.   </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the movie was over, the four resolved to start up their movie club again and Impulse promised to bring the projector to Xisuma to see if the admin could fix it. Wels was getting tired and False was aching from sitting on the floor, so they went back to Wels’ house fairly early into the night. Once inside, they went to sleep almost right away, False in the main bed and Wels in a smaller one in the same room. Both of them were smiling. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Real quick, here’s my thought process behind the whole interaction between Impulse and False. It’s been two weeks since the incident. Both of them have spent nearly half of that time unconscious. The other half of that time was spent feeling guilty. By the time they meet, they’re both feeling more guilty over what they did then mad at the other person for what they did. However, neither one wants to have to apologize first. No reason to hold angry grudges forever. Plus, then this story would get really long and I have other stories to work on.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 21 (False)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The end.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sunlight streamed in through the glass windows and surrounded False in an angel-like radiance. Wels’ house seemed to have some element of surreality to it and the beautiful morning glow only contributed to that feeling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sweet air filled her lungs before she slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze swept across the room, eventually settling upon Wels, who was just waking up, too. Sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, the knight finally noticed her and smiled sleepily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” was all he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning!” False stretched out her arms before she leaped to her feet and threw on her jacket, which was hanging on the bedpost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll take care of breakfast, all right?” She rhetorically tossed out the question as she bounced out the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’d be great,” Wels called out from behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The downstairs kitchen had plenty of food stocked in the cupboards and False quickly cooked up a small stack of pancakes and a pan of scrambled eggs. She had just filled a pitcher of water when Wels shuffled into the room and briefly leaned against the island. He filled up a plate with food, took a cup of coffee and some silverware that False handed him, and sat down in the dining room, where she soon joined him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two ate mostly in silence for a few minutes, enjoying each other’s company. When both of their plates were empty, Wels leaned against the back of his chair, his grin as bright as the morning sun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was very good,” he stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False’s hands were resting on the top of the table and she nervously picked at her nails, trying to figure out what to say next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want to do today?” the knight quietly asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think that we need to talk.” The two of them had talked about so many things almost nonstop for several days, but they hadn’t addressed one important thing yet: their relationship. Wels had all of his memories back, thanks to Xisuma and Doc’s hard work, and he knew everything about what the two of them had once been. Now, they needed to discuss what to do next. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright,” Wels nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False’s heart was aching a bit as she struggled to find the right words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So... you know everything now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep,” was the simple reply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you seem to still want to be around me, even though I’m a horrible person.” Wels looked at her disapprovingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“False, we’ve already gone over this. You are not a horrible person and I absolutely want to be around you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s still probably a lot to put up with me and all of the messes I make,” she replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Honestly, I can’t imagine what </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’ve</span>
  </em>
  <span> been going through all these months and I’m sorry for all of that. I can handle a few messes just fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not your fault,” she stated absent-mindedly, the reassurance her automatic response for pretty much everything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sometimes, I feel like it is,” the knight slowly responded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” The answer had definitely caught False off guard and she scanned Wels’ face as he began his explanation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Xisuma explained to me that I fell asleep because I had been pushing myself too hard. I mean, pretty much everyone here does, but I was definitely going insane under all the pressure that I put myself under. I was making trips to my other worlds all of the time and trying to be present here, and it wasn’t working. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I remember those last few weeks of season 6 now. and I realize now how completely exhausted I was, but I kept working anyway. Without my own stupidity and stubbornness, this whole mess never would have happened. Now, everyone else has to suffer the consequences of it, you especially.” Wels grimaced as False stared at him, eyes wide. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d never thought about it that way,” she replied, still ruminating over what Wels had just said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry. The more I think about it, the worse I feel, but I just… I don’t know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not mad at you, I hope you know,” False quickly added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I kind of do, but it’s hard to believe it sometimes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can understand that,” she sighed. “Just, try not to worry about it please? I think all of us have done something to make this mess worse and it’d probably help if we stopped blaming ourselves, like you told me a few days ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wels nodded in response, his chest rising and falling before the two returned to the original topic of conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyway… I think we need to decide if we’re going to be friends or what.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I definitely want to be friends with you, but I know what you mean.” Wels drew a long breath and both of them looked at each other awkwardly for a good few seconds. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… who wants to go first?” The knight eventually asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I suppose I can,” False quietly answered. “Honestly, I don’t know if I want to do the whole dating thing again. I mean, I really do like you, but I don’t feel that kind of attraction anymore.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The words definitely hurt, but False knew that she had to say them at some point. In fact, they had been rumbling about in her head for the whole time that Wels had been back. She had been so excited to have him back with her, but she hadn’t figured out exactly why until the Infinity Room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At first, she thought that she was excited that her boyfriend was back. In the Infinity Room, however, she had realized that she was more excited to have her best friend back. She still liked Wels a lot, but it wasn’t a romantic attraction anymore. Nervously, False waited for Wels to respond, hoping that even if she hurt him with her words, the damage wouldn’t be too bad. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, I actually agree with you.” Looking up at Wels’ sincere expression, False froze for a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y-you do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Like you said, I really like being around you and I like you as a person, but not in a romantic way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room was silent for almost a full minute, False still in disbelief about how quickly and peacefully the conversation had been conducted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, okay. That went a lot better than I expected,” she finally said. Glancing across the table, Wels still looked a bit pained and False decided to wait for him to say something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So... this might be too personal, but is there someone else?” False furrowed her brow and looked at Wels with wide eyes. “Sorry, that was definitely too personal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” she quickly reassured him. “No, there’s no one. I … I just think that so much time apart broke our former connection. I’m not mad in any way, just, I don’t know. It’s hard to express with words.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of them fell silent for a moment, still thinking about what had just been said. False was particularly lost in her thoughts when another sudden question by Wels snapped her back to reality.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you happy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pardon me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s kind of a random question, but are you happy with your life right now?” False relaxed and shifted her position in her chair, reassuringly smiling at a very nervous Wels.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, I talked with Stress shortly after you left, and she said that I needed some time without you to find myself again. I didn’t do that for </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span> long, but I think what I did figure out and talking honestly with you has helped. Talking with Impulse removed a lot of weight as well, and I almost feel, I don’t know, </span>
  <em>
    <span>lighter</span>
  </em>
  <span>? And definitely a lot more free. I’m not scared of anyone anymore. So, I suppose that I am happy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad to hear that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False grinned as she stood up and pressed her weight onto the tabletop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will be extra happy once these dishes get done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I claim washing!” Wels was also smiling as he leapt up from his chair and ran over to the sink. False laughed and followed him into the kitchen with the breakfast dishes in tow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>—————</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The salty air wooshed around False as she zoomed past Mount Goatmore and aimed her trajectory towards Doc’s half-house. Gently, she slowed down and made a smooth landing on the grass a short distance from the cyborg. Wels wasn’t with her, as she felt that she needed to deal with Doc alone. Her pounding heart was slightly regretting that decision, but she took a deep breath and walked up the hill.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Up ahead, Doc was sitting on the ground and leaning against a stack of chests as he read a book. He was fully healed from his injuries by now, but the cyborg still flinched when False called out to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Doc!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carefully setting the book down, Doc scanned False’s face for a few moments before responding in a low, cautious tone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Falsie. What brings you out here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would like to talk with you for a bit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doc bit his lip, then slowly nodded a few times.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well then, why don’t you sit down?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>False hopped up onto the fence railing and leaned against a support beam so that she wouldn’t fall off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what’s the topic of conversation?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need to apologize to you.” False took a deep breath and looked down at the grass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, continue.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not entirely sure where to start, but I’m sorry for hurting you. I never should have attacked you and I’m very sorry for that. For so long, I blamed you for everything that happened to me. No matter what it was, it was your fault in my mind and when I saw you at those screens, I thought that I had evidence. I was wrong and I shouldn’t have attacked you and I’m really sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At that point, False couldn’t think of more words to say. Truly, Doc had done nothing to her and there was no reason for her reactions and anger at him. It was so hard to sum up her feelings in words, though. She hoped that Doc would understand what she meant as she nervously waited for him to speak. The cyborg’s face was fairly unreadable, but he seemed to be struggling to come up with a response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Falsie, I… I still feel hurt by you, but I can’t bring myself to hate you. I feel as if I should, but I can’t. And now that you’ve come back and apologized for your actions, I really can’t hate you. I can understand why you did what you did, and I almost feel like it’s my fault.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They finally made eye contact and False realized that Doc wasn’t kidding.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...w-what?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I should have pushed you to deal with your emotions better about Wels falling asleep in the first place. I just assumed that you were figuring it out, which you definitely weren’t. Also, this may sound weird, but I don’t feel like it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> who hurt me. Maybe they possessed your body, but it wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>; it was who you once were, like when you first came here.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Doc knew all about False’s messy past as a trained assassin before she joined Hermitcraft and it was still a bit of a sore subject for her. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I promised that I would never be that person again when I joined this community.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I know you did, but I also knew that you wouldn’t be able to hide it forever. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> hide a part of yourself forever and expect everything to be fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I thought I could…”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Falsie, it’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>She brushed a few intruding tears away and drew a shallow breath.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You really aren’t mad at me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, Falsie. Not at all.” A faint smile crept onto her face.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thank you so much.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You know, I’m probably the last person you should go to for advice, but I think you need an outlet for that side of you. Maybe we can ask Xisuma or someone to help you set up some sort of training area. You can practice your skills without hurting anybody. Or organize another PvP event, like we did several years ago. I don’t know.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That sounds like a good idea.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Great. I can’t help, unfortunately, because I’m leaving tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Is everything okay?” False asked, sounding mildly concerned.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah. I need to go back to my homeworld to see my family. It’s been too long.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Do you know when you’ll be back?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Not yet. Hopefully this house will still be here when I come back. Bdubs better not touch the Goatmother again or I won’t be there to save him. Heh.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Cool. Have fun on your trip!” False was smiling brightly, as Doc was actually a lot of fun to be around when she wasn’t scared to death of him. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So, I actually have a question for you,” the cyborg awkwardly stated, scratching the back of his neck.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay.” False was pretty sure she knew what he was thinking about, but she patiently waited for Doc’s response.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“This might be too personal, but have you talked with Wels about... you know?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>False gave a tight-lipped smile and her heart felt just a tiny bit heavier.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We talked this morning and we decided that we just want to be platonic friends. Somehow, we both felt the same way and it was a very amicable decision.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay then.” Doc was looking slightly uncomfortable, as False knew that it was probably not the answer he was expecting. “I’m happy for you guys, even though that sounds weird in this context.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s fine. We’re still going to have to figure some things out, but I’m feeling very at peace.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Do you want me to keep this secret again? I still feel odd about last time and I don’t want to make you feel scared.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I understand... and I’m not scared of you anymore. I should have known that people would figure it out eventually. I still don’t like the idea of making a big announcement, but I’m not scared to death that people will find out anymore.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright then. Well, I need to get working on some projects, but thank you for stopping by.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, thank you for talking with me. I feel a lot better.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’s good, that’s good.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“See you whenever you come back!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>False waved as she walked away from Doc and took off into the clear, afternoon sky. A few hours later, she met up with Wels in the shopping district where they talked for a while before heading off to their separate bases to work on their own projects again. Both of them had agreed to making sure that they had an identity apart from each other, especially with their new relationship, so time alone was crucial. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next morning, the two were there together to give Doc a send-off along with almost all of the other hermits. A few people asked about their relationship status and False told them the truth. Just like Doc, none of them were expecting her answer, but the truth really did set her free. After the group meeting, False and Wels exchanged pleasant goodbyes and traveled back to their own homes. That night, False laid in bed for a long time before falling asleep, thinking about various things. There were lots more conversations to be had with Wels, although those were for another day. They weren’t lady and knight anymore, but they were still friends. Together, they would figure this out, one day at a time.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And that’s a wrap! I know that this last chapter isn’t the happy, fluffy ending you probably wanted, but there are pretty much no amicable breakups in this fandom. Either they stay in mad love forever, one of them devastates the other by cheating (I am guilty of this one), or one of them dies. However, in real life, people end relationships sometimes because they just fall out of love. I believe that in my story, Wels and False have a strong enough relationship that they can acknowledge their feelings, or lack thereof, and civilly discuss them, thus making an amicable breakup the best ending. </p><p>I wrote a different ending initially, which I posted as extra chapters on Wattpad. You can check that out if you want.</p><p>Finally, thank you so much for reading this! I hope that you have enjoyed this story and aren’t too mad at me. Reminder that if you leave a comment, please make it respectful, kind, considerate, and constructive. If you want to check out my other work, I’m @TheNerdyTurtle96 on both Wattpad and Ao3 (Archive of Our Own). Have a beautiful day!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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